In Between
by Jenn0509
Summary: Taking Chances sequel. Lilly and Seth are together again, but her brother wants revenge for the mistakes of the past. Who must be sacrificed? Lilly must choose, her brother or her mate and new family? How can you choose when you'd die willingly for both?
1. Prologue

Here we go again. In Betweenwill be the last part of my trilogy. It's been a long road, and I hope you enjoyed it. I give you, the prologue.**_  


* * *

In Between_**

**_Prologue_**

**_Nigel Davenport_**

The last thing I remembered was the burn of the change. I had just gotten home with Lilly and the twins when the burning had started. My change had been more gradual than most.

On the way home, I listened to the quiet chatter of my blonde haired sisters and the enraged and embarrassed rumblings coming from Lilly.

The skin of my neck had started to itch. It itched, so I scratched, only to be surprised by the scales that had erupted over my human skin. I was a snake, true, but I'd never had scales unintentionally, not by accident. As a Rowan, I had exceptional control over my animal form. After a certain age, outbreaks of animal hide on the human body were unheard of.

"Lilly, shut up." I had grumbled.

My brown haired sister's mouth had snapped shut, and she'd glared at me, "What?"

"Come here." I said, continuing to scratch at the skin.

Her anger melted away, "What's wrong?" She asked as she rushed back to me. I bent down a little, so she could see my problem in the moonlight. She gasped a little, touching it with her soft fingers, "Nigel, what's going on? That's not supposed to happen."

"I don't know."

"Come on, we need to get you home." She said, turning to the twins, "You two run back, find Gerry." The little girls nodded, but Lilly wasn't through, "And for heavens sake, don't harass her anymore." They'd rolled their eyes simultaneously, but obeyed our sister.

"Are you feeling alright?" She had asked, looking at me suspiciously.

I nodded, "Just a little itchy and…warm."

"I'd noticed." She said wryly, placing a hand on my cheek. We both stilled at the contact, her fingers felt…cold. "Nigel." She'd whispered in horror, "You're burning up."

I knew why she was now just as terrified as I was. We were Rowan, her body temperature on average at one o' one, mine, due to my snake other half, was normally twenty degrees above my surroundings. The news had estimated the temperature to be seventy five at this time of night. For me to feel warm to my hot-blooded sister, my own temperature would have to be at least ten degrees higher than it should have been.

The fever had taken over soon after, my sight had blurred and I had had to lean on Lilly to make my way back home. I had blacked out for a while, after hearing my mother scream from the front porch.

When I had regained consciousness, my entire body had been on fire, my entire being burning. It had been then that I had realized I was Changing. It was also the same moment that I realized that I had a thin wrist in my mouth.

I had opened my eyes, afraid I had killed someone. No…it was Gerry. Looking bored as I unconsciously and uncontrollably sucked blood from her arm. "Good morning, Sunshine." She had said offhandedly. "Drink your fill, you can't kill me. Also, you're in luck. With my blood in your body, I can make this easier on you." She had smiled unkindly, "Well, on the rest of us. You won't be screaming or any of that nonsense."

What the little creature had meant is that she paralyzed me. I had burned alone, the only thing in existence was the pain.

That's the end, that's all I remember.

I don't know how I came to be in this prison.

Or why my betrothed, Cora, was leaning over me with an evil look on her face. "I hope you rot here, you bastard. Cheating on me." She shook her head, her red hair stroking my cheek, "I'm through with you and all your lies." She stood.

"What lies?" I yelled, but she just walked away, closing an iron door behind her. "Wait! Take this thing off!" I had just noticed the Cloi around my neck. They were used to neutralize the strength and shifting power in Rowan prisoners.

They brought me food at what seemed to be regular intervals, but I could see no faces, they stayed to the shadows. That was smart of them. Someone knew my power…Cora, probably, the whore had been more trouble than she was worth.

Without the ability to shift into my reptilian form, I couldn't escape the iron bars, and with no extra strength, I couldn't break out. With my captors staying in the shadows, I couldn't use my power on them. I couldn't take theirs either. I could leech off it, hence the name, Leech, but I couldn't take it unless I had ten seconds of uninterrupted eye contact.

As long as the fed me, I thought I could bare it. That was until I realized just how much my reptilian half affected me. After about the eighth meal rotation, I started to feel cold. I was shaking within a few hours. There was another reason they were keeping me out of the sunlight. I was cold blooded, and without the sun, the human part of my body couldn't keep my temperature regulated.

My heart was beating wildly in my chest, I couldn't speak, I couldn't move to get the food they brought me, and just when I was slipping back into unconsciousness, a light flicked on. It was a heat lamp. I gasped as my body temperature returned to normal quicker than I'd been prepared for.

I was exhausted, and I just laid there on the floor. A noise made me open my eyes slightly. A shadowed male figure walked towards the bars of my cage. The partly shadowed face of my only brother looked down at me, his face contorted in a twisted smile, "Hello, brother. Enjoying your stay?"

I scuttled to the far edge of my prison, keeping as much room in between me and the monster my brother had become.

_"Let me apologize to begin with  
Let me apologize for what I'm about to say_

_But trying to be genuine was harder than it seemed  
But somehow I got caught up in between_

_Let me apologize to begin with  
Let me apologize for what I'm about to say_

_But trying to be someone else was harder than it seemed  
And somehow I got caught up in between_

_Between my pride and my promise  
Between my lies and how the truth gets in the way_

_And things I want to say to you get lost before they come  
The only thing that's worse than one is none_

_Let me apologize to begin with  
Let me apologize for what I'm about to say_

_But trying to regain your trust was harder than it seemed  
But somehow I got caught up in between_

_Between my pride and my promise  
Between my lies and how the truth gets in the way_

_The things I want to say to you get lost before they come  
The only thing that's worse than one is none  
The only thing that's worse than one is none_

_And I cannot explain to you  
And anything I say or do or plan_

_Fear is not afraid of you  
But guilt's a language you can understand_

_I cannot explain to you  
And anything I say or do  
I hope the actions speak the words they can_

_For my pride and my promise  
For my lies and how the truth gets in the way_

_The things I want to say to you get lost before they come  
The only thing that's worse is_

_Pride and my promise  
Between my lies and how the truth gets in the way_

_The things I want to say to you get lost before they come  
The only thing that's worse than one is none  
The only thing that's worse than one is none  
The only thing that's worse than one is none"

* * *

_The song is "In Between" by Linkin Park, it's a driving song for this story, and periodically, I'll be adding in songs to my chapters, just like I did for the first chapter of Taking Chances. I've completed the first chapter, and it has the song "Ours" by The Bravery. It was on the Eclipse sound track, and it just fit with chapter one. For those of you who haven't heard it yet, the soundtrack is great.

Please, if you liked my prologue, review. Reviews mean a lot, and they make me really happy. Like I said, chapter one is finished how quickly comes out can be swayed by how many reviews I get. ;) Or, I'll put it up once I've finished chapter two...which is currently in two pieces that are missing a middle connector...slight problem. Oh well, I'll work it out.

Also, sorry for the long delay, I actually forgot to let you guys know that I was going to go to the beach for a week with my two best friends and a set of parents. We had fun, but I had like no time to write. We got back Sunday night, and I was right back at work on Monday morning...sort of...actually, I'm pretty sure I dozed off for a few hours...just don't let my boss know! (Who happens to be my father... Oh the joys of teen jobs!) I took off yesterday to "unpack", and I finished the first chapter that morning. Unfortunately, two things still needed to happen, I needed a short prologue, and to weave in the song to chapter one. (Sorry it wasn't weaved into this one...takes too much time.) I weaved the song into chapter one last night, and wrote the prologue all today, so I apologize if there are more errors than there usually are.

Going to work and than to the movies with my four best friends tomorrow, so I'm heading to bed.

Review!

-Jenn


	2. Ours

Things are going to be a bit touch and go for this weekend, so I'm just going to put this chapter up. This chapter is with Lilly, next chapter is with Seth, and then chapter three will be with Lilly again. For the last part of my trilogy, I'm really trying to keep it centralized. There will only be four or five Narrators with Lilly and Seth being the main two followed by Nigel.

The song I have put into this chapter is "Ours" by The Bravery. I highly recommend the Eclipse soundtrack. I'm going to finish the next chapter in the next few days. As long as I get reviews, I should have it up by the start of next week.

If you're new to my stories, and have gotten this far, thank you. I would also like to thank _Stina Whatever _and _PurpleReader29_ for reviewing the prologue, this chapter is for you two!

Please review!

Enjoy!  
_**

* * *

In Between**_

_**Chapter One**_

_**Lilly Davenport**_

I woke in Seth's arms.

I was warm. His breaths were deep and steady. Absolute peace.

I stared at his face, the tan skin and his ruggedly handsome features. That's when I realized just how profound an affect he had on me. Just his presence made the whole world seem like it's just between the two of us and that nothing else matters.

"_After tonight,  
who knows where we'll be tomorrow  
what if we're never here again?_

_After tonight  
This will be a lifetime ago  
so let's stay up until the sky bleeds red."_

Then my brother seeped back in my mind. The truth was something I was having a hard time to swallow.

"Lilly." A voice hissed from somewhere in the house. "I know you're awake."

It was Holly. She was freaky that way, hearing by the sound of my breathing that I was awake. She used to show up in my room in the mornings when she needed to talk to me at the exact moment I woke.

"_And we'll stop stop stop the world from moving  
Stop stop stop the clocks from turning  
Stop this night from fading away."_

I carefully extracted myself from Seth's arms. He moaned and tightened his arms around where I had just been laying. I waited for a minute, making sure he was deep asleep again, before moving. I stood, observing the bodies strewn around me, each heaving heavy sighs of restful sleep. I knew that under normal circumstances, most of them would have been awakened but my…cousin's…magic was keeping them asleep.

Naturally, I nearly tripped over Leah on my way to the kitchen. We had a tense peace. The last thing I needed was to trip over her and wake her up.

I found Holly sitting in a study, behind a desk, her black boots propped on the cherry wood surface. "What?" I whispered.

She leaned her head back, tossing a phone onto the desk, "Oliver's gone. Carlisle called, and told me that he just disappeared."

"_This time is ours  
If I could hold this moment in my hands  
I'd stop the world from moving  
I'd stop the clocks from turning"_

"What?" I asked again.

"That's what I want to know. What are we going to do?"

"About what?" I said, avoiding her emerald eyes.

She stood, moving in a flash to put her hand on my shoulder, "They'll kill him." Her voice is calm, even.

"Who?" I asked, my voice and confidence wavering.

"Don't play coy with me, sister. You've known for as long as I have" I didn't like the tone of her voice, it was vampiric, glossy and polished.

"_This time is ours  
inside a frozen memory of us  
And we are motionless, motionless."_

"What?" I whispered.

She circled me, a smile on her face, "Alright, so you want to play that game." I could feel her breath on my ear and I held my hold body rigid. "You know, who's been killing our family."

"No!" I half yelled.

She walked to face me, "Lilly, deep down, you know who it is. We both do."

"No." I said again, more firmly.

"Lilly, he killed Ivy. What kind of monster kills a little girl? She was twelve, Lilly. Twelve years old, and her life is over. And what about Grams? She wasn't a threat to anyone, she barely even got out of bed most days. We both know that she was just a warm up and that Ivy was the first test. Who knows how many others have been killed by his hands."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, my voice quiet.

She sighed, "Because, the sooner you get to the truth, the sooner we can come up with a plan."

"A plan for what?"

Holly smirked, "The truth first, Lilly."

I thought of Seth, sleeping in the other room, completely unaware of what I was going through. Holly was forcing the truth onto me, and all I wanted to do was to go and get back into Seth's arms. I had been sleeping so well, dreaming something, but the memory was quickly fading, leaving me with only a feeling of contentment that my sister had shattered.

"_Gone like a dream that I have just awoken from  
Fading away, just out of reach  
And we are here, but I already miss you  
even as you're lying next to me."_

I swallowed back my fear and pride, saying the words I hope aren't true, "He's a murderer." As soon as the words leave my mouth, I feel better. Holly nods her head slightly in ascension. My heart feels like it's breaking. It's a sick sort of feeling that builds in my chest until I can hardly breath. "My…brother…is…a…m-murderer? No, he wouldn't. He's…so quiet and, no, no!" I half scream again.

Holly hugged me to her chest, "Shh…keep your voice down, we wouldn't want to wake your mate, would we?" She ran a thin hand through my hair as I nodded, "Good, now, what are we going to do?"

"With what? People are dead at his hands. What can I do?"

"Spare his life. Lilly, these vampires here, they will not have mercy on those who harm innocents. They will kill him. If you take them to Avalon and give them a shot at him, he will die."

"_And we'll stop stop stop the world from moving  
Stop stop stop the clocks from turning  
Stop this night from fading away."_

"He's my twin, I can't let that happen!"

"I know, that's why I think you need to go before everyone else."

"What? Why?"

She put a hand on my shoulder again, "Because, you are the only person who can talk him down. If he surrenders, they won't kill him, but they won't give him a chance. He must surrender before anyone gets to Avalon."

"What makes you think he isn't too far gone? Why am I the one who has to save him?" I asked bitterly.

"Lilly! You are his twin, he would never hurt you." Her eyes are trying to convey something, but I can't tell what it is.

I hang my head, "I'm not sure who he is anymore."

"Lilly, he's your brother. You can't give up hope. If you give up, than there is no hope." She had an expression of pity on her face, "There is a reason why most Animators are killed soon after their gifts are discovered. They go mad Lilly. In little ways at first, some are fine until well into adulthood, but sooner or later, they all go crazy. The power corrupts."

"_This time is ours  
If I could hold this moment in my hands  
I'd stop the world from moving  
I'd stop the clocks from turning."_

"Than what's the use? If his power is making him insane, what good will it do me to talk him down?" I didn't see her point.

She sighed, annoyance sprinkling across her features before she controlled herself, "You need Nigel. He's a Leech, he can take Oliver's power."

"Okay, so he takes the power from Oliver, won't it just make him go crazy?" I asked, how she knew all of this, I still couldn't figure out. The twitch of her face let me know that she hadn't figured that part of her plan out. "You don't know." I stated, "Do you? You have no idea about how to keep Nigel from going crazy too."

She cringed, "I'm not sure, true, but I'm hoping that Nigel taking it in will buy us enough time to figure out how to get rid of it without killing someone."

I straightened up, "So what I need to do is find Nigel and then Oliver."

She nodded tentatively, "Yes…only, I'm not sure how long I can keep them from coming after you."

I snorted softly, something I'd never done without being whacked on the head before, "Just how are you going to distract them in the first place. Seth will notice that I'm gone."

A slow smile spread on her face, "Lilly, you forget, I'm an illusionist. They don't have to know you're missing at all. I'll try to keep them in the dark as long as I can, but you need to work fast."

"_This time is ours  
inside a frozen memory of us  
And we are motionless, motionless_

_And we are motionless, motionless_

_And we are motionless, motionless"_

"I can. When do I leave?"

"Later, we'll fight like we usually do, and during, you'll go behind a tree and my illusion will come back, leaving you free to run the opposite direction. Until then, you should probably get back to sleep."

"How could I possibly go back to sleep?"

She grinned at me, "I'm sure you'll find a way."

I rolled my eyes, preparing to leave the dark office. At the door, I stopped, "How will I find Nigel?"

Holly shrugged, "I'm not sure, but you need him. Try the maids, they know everything."

I gave my adopted sister a wry smile, "So I've heard. Thank you, Holly."

"No problem, sister mine, Godspeed." I started but she spoke again, "Oh, and just to let you know…I won't be pulling any punches later."

I gasped in faux indignation, "How cruel."

"_And we'll stop stop stop the world from moving  
Stop stop stop the clocks from turning  
Stop this night from fading away, fading away"_

"Go, Lilly. I need to spend all the time I can with my son." I looked back at her, and was shocked to see how old she looked. She didn't just look older, she looked tired, so unbelievably tired.

I left anyway, hearing voices down the hall. A light was on in one of the bedrooms. It looked large, "Baby, you need to be strong for momma. I know you'll be scared, but I need you to go. We will be okay." It was my mother. This must be her room.

"No, momma, I don't want to go!" My new half brother Billy said, in a young boy's effeminate voice. "I want to stay with you!"

I stood in the doorframe, looking at the scene in front of me. Elaine was on her knees in front of the boy, holding a thin metal circlet in one hand. A collar, I realized in horror. The boy recoiled from it, "Please, Billy, you need to wear it, your father will be here in the morning, and I don't know how long you'll need to be gone. It won't just be for a night, Billy. I can't just tell you not to use your power, because you may have to spend the rest of your minor years with your father."

"No! I want to stay with you! I won't go."

"_This time is ours  
If I could hold this moment in my hands  
I'd stop the world from moving  
I'd stop the clocks from turning"_

A tear ran down her face, "Please, baby. Do this, for me? I need you to be safe."

I watched at the little boy's posture changed. He was a momma's boy, "Okay, I'll wear it, but not until daddy gets here in the morning. It's itchy." He agreed.

She smiled, wiping her face, "Deal, but you should go to bed." He nodded, and started towards the door, I jerked away from the doorway and stood to the side of it.

He squeaked a little in surprise when he saw me, "Lilly!" He said softly.

I giggled, "Hey, sorry to scare you. What was our mother trying to put on you?"

He held up the metal collar with a passive expression, "It's a collar that binds my power. Mom doesn't want my daddy to know exactly what I can do." His face fell, "I don't want to have to wear it forever." Hope filled his face, "Are you going with mom?"

"No, I'm leaving sooner."

"Why."

"Because I can't put my mate in danger. Our brother's gone crazy because of his power, and I need to make him surrender." I gave the little boy the condensed version.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, "Take me with you." He said, looking at me closely with his blue eyes.

"No, Billy, I can't do that." I said automatically.

"Why not? I can help you." He said, and I smiled a little at the knowledge that we shared our stubbornness.

"You're a little boy, Billy. I can't let you get hurt." I said tenderly.

"_This time is ours  
inside a frozen memory of us  
And we are motionless, motionless"_

He shook his head and jutted his chin out in defiance, "I can help you. I'm an alchemist. I transmute things." To prove his point, he put a hand to the floor, and when he brought it back to my sight, he held a short-stemmed rose. He handed it to me, "I can do that with other things too. My body regenarwates." He giggled and I cringed at his malformed words, "That helps when I twip on stuff. I bwuse a lot though."

"I'll take care of him. You have to take me too." I flinched. Gerry had caught me.

"This isn't a field trip, Ger. People could get hurt." I couldn't look at her.

"Lilly." She said with a reprimanding tone. "I'm a Healer. The safest place is to be with me. Besides, I can help you find Oliver. We share blood, even as cousins, I can find him, my brother too. It will save you time. We will be waiting in the forest for you. End of discussion."

I felt her walk away. Billy looked at me with wide eyes, "She's scary… Am I related to her?"

I smiled, pulling the little boy into my arms, resting my tired head on his shoulder. "Yes, that's our Geranium."

I sent the boy to bed, kissing him on the forehead. I had no intentions of letting them follow me in the morning. They were both far too young.

I slipped back into Seth's arms, and he stirred, opening his dark eyes. "You okay?" Was what I assumed his sleepy mumble meant.

I nodded, kissing him hard before telling him softly, "Yeah, I just went to the bathroom. Sorry I woke you."

He kissed me softly, "It's not a problem. I love you."

"I love you too, Seth."

I curled back into the strength and comfort of his arms, drifting back to blissful sleep in minutes.

"_This time is ours_

_This time is ours_

_This time is ours_

_This time is ours_

_This time is ours"_

_

* * *

_After this chapter, I'm starting to think I should write a song fic...meh, maybe after this is all done with. :)

What do you think?

-Jenn


	3. History

Yay! Here's chapter three! I will say that I'm slightly disappointed with the number of reviews I've gotten. I hope you guys make up for it this chapter. I finally got through and answer most of the left over questions.

I've figured out that there will be another part of this thing, but it won't be about Lilly and Seth...one of their kids though. It won't be nearly as long as any of the parts of this thing, and will include very little of my Avalon stuff. Once I finish the last part of this, I'll get on that. I hope it will give just a little bit on how life is for everyone. Ideas are welcome.

Enjoy and review!  
_**

* * *

In Between**_

_**Chapter Two**_

_**Seth Clearwater**_

I woke to empty arms.

Lilly wasn't next to me.

I sat up franticly, "Lilly?"

Had she gone and done something without me?

I couldn't lose her!

"Relax, dog-boy." A southern voice drawled, Rachelle, I recalled. She was in the kitchen, next to the cutout overlooking the living room, holding a spatula. "I'm making round four of breakfast. Want some? Or would you rather wait for Izzy to cook round five?"

"Where's Lilly?"

"Cool your jets sweetie, she's out front with her daddy. I know you're going to need food, so come and get some." When I didn't ascent, she huffed, "Really! At least grab a piece of toast. My cooking isn't that bad." She held up her hands, "Honest!"

I skirted around the wall, into the kitchen, "Who said your cooking was bad?" I asked cautiously, seeing as I wasn't too sure about how sane these kids were.

The blond sighed, "Izzy is always telling me that my cooking is awful, but really, it's not my fault! I just don't get along well with ovens. They make me feel really empty inside."

"Why?" I wasn't aware ovens could make people feel things.

She rolled her eyes, "Because, I'm a bound Yuki-onna." She gestured to her shoulder and with the tank top she was wearing, I could see a tattoo that appeared to be a bunch of Japanese letters. "Short story, my parents pissed off the wrong old lady in Japan eighteen years ago. So, I like cold things. I may have grown up in Texas, but I hated the heat. Lovely place besides that."

"She sleeps in a freezer." The boy named Jeremy said as he walked between us, his head stuck in his game.

"A freezer?" I said softly.

She smiled happily, showing off snow-white teeth, "Yeah, it's too warm for me to really fall asleep otherwise."

"Sounds like fun…now where did you say Lilly was?" I asked, my allowance of time for the strange…girl depleted.

"Oh! Yeah, she's outside with Raven and her creepy looking half vampire. Don't look so panicked, she only woke up a half hour ago"

"Thanks!" I yelled as I headed out the door.

I stopped just at the top of the porch steps. Lilly and Holly were standing across the clearing from each other. They contrasted starkly in the morning light. They were both pretty in separate ways. While Holly's darkness made her look like an ancient vampire queen, Lilly was beautiful and soft, everything nice in the world wrapped into one tiny package with hypnotizing silver eyes. Dark and light, Yin and Yang.

And then they lunged at each other.

They came together with a loud crack, Holly's skin I recognized, and an animalistic howl from Lilly. They moved in a flurry of fists and kicks.

I was shocked out of my stunned stillness when Lilly yelped in pain. I jerked forward.

"Whoa, boy, you don't want to get in the middle of that. Trust me." Strong hands yanked me back by the collar of my shirt like a child.

"But they're fighting!"

Raven nodded with a smile, "Yes, and they'll both be angry of you get in the middle. Lilly for you being stupid and Holly for making her forfeit a chance to beat the snot out of her adopted sister."

Panic was still coursing through me, "Why are they fighting?"

He chuckled darkly, putting a hand on my shoulder. He looked out at the two girls, "Seth, one day, you will be my son-in-law. You might as well get to know the Princess Lilly sooner rather than later. The two of them fight over everything they can possibly think of. One of them probably got a box of cereal the other wanted. They've fought since they were old enough to notice each other. I used to try to stop them, but once they both got older, all it served to do was to bruise me and make them fussy." He shook his head, "Holly is smarter, but Lilly has more brute strength. When the two of them used to fight in the training rings there was always a crowd."

Lilly lunged for Holly but the dark girl slammed her elbow into Lilly's shoulder. Lilly cried out and I surged forward, only to be held back by Raven again, "Let me go! She's my mate!"

He nodded, "And they've been beating up on each other since before they could talk. She'll be okay. Holly has vampire smarts and brains, but Lilly is tough, fighting is in her blood, her nature, it comes easy to her. She'll learn to adapt to her opponent, study them." His dark glare lightened with a slight smile, "She only pretends to be as dim witted as she appears. Her brain isn't as quick as Holly's, but she knows people. You should be lucky to have her. All of the others in your pack are going to have to always worry about their mates, but with Lilly, she'll be fine, it's you that is weaker."

"I'm strong!"

He rolled his eyes, "I'm not saying you're not, but she is far stronger."

"You're just saying that because you taught her to fight and she's your daughter."

"No, I'm not. Look at them, Seth. Holly is half vampire." Lilly punched Holly in the face. "Lilly always holds back, but then again, I get the feeling Holly does too. Anyway, Rowan are built to demolish vampires. That's why they fight, our kinds are not meant to get along with each other." He chuckled again, and the noise worried me…it was a little too…maniacal for my comfort. "I'm actually surprised about your little friendship with the vampires."

"So were we." I heard Jacob say from behind me. "But I loved Bella. It took a long time for all of us to come to terms, but when Nessie came…"

"You imprinted on her…yes, it's an unusual phenomenon. Since we don't age like most humans do, it's not uncommon for Rowan to attach themselves to the mother of their mate." Raven finished smoothly.

We stopped talking when the girls suddenly dissolved into giggles, Holly leaning against a tree and Lilly on her back on the ground at her feet. "I've only just realized the absurdity of it all!" Holly chortled, her accent thick.

"I know!" Lilly squealed.

Holly straightened herself, holding a hand out to my mate, "Come on, you twit. There's work to be done."

Lilly stood, brushing off her pants. "I know, but don't call me a twit. It' s not appreciated."

"What ever!" Holly said, turning around and walking towards Raven and I. She walked past us, throwing back, "Come on, Raven, we have battle plans to formulate. Bring the twit's mate with you." She suddenly turned around and threw Lilly back into the trees.

I growled but Raven just laughed, shaking his head, "Bi-polar that one, mad as a hatter too, but ever so clever. She knows what we need to do. Probably figured it out with that last right hook."

"It just seems like they could hurt each other." Jacob mumbled.

"Ha! You should see them fight with swords!" Raven declared to my horror.

"Swords?" I said, my voice barely a whisper.

He laughed, "You should see the look on your face!"

"Not. Funny."

He tried to suppress a grin, "I'm joking!" He frowned, "Really, do you think we would let her anywhere near anything like that? She could put an eye out with one of those things. Not to mention that swords are impractical when you have teeth and claws." He clapped me on the shoulder as he said softly, "Here comes our girl."

She bounded up the front steps, sweating slightly from exertion but smiling broadly, "Good morning, you."

I saw her glance once at her father before putting a hand on either side of my face and drawing my lips to hers. The instant her lips touched mine, I knew something wasn't right. I shoved her away.

"Seth? What's wrong?" She asked, her silver eyes wide and innocent.

"You're not Lilly." I growled out.

The girl's face crumpled, "Seth…"

She suddenly vanished into smoke, "I was wondering if I could pull this off…guess I couldn't." A cool hand rested on my shoulder…Holly.

I spun around to face her, "Where is she?"

"Relax, wolf-boy, she's only got a few minutes head start. She's headed to the boundary." Holly said smoothly, but I only really understood the first sentence.

Raven apparently understood all of it. "Lilium!" He growled, lunging himself over the railing on the porch and landing as a wolf.

Holly bit her lower lip, "Don't worry about it. I told Lily I'd try to cover for her, but I didn't think that'd I'd be able to pull it off for long. She didn't need to know that, of course."

"What did you tell her to do?" I yelled, taking a step closer to the half human.

She raised her chin defiantly, "You're going to kill her brother, aren't you?"

I took two steps back, "I hadn't told anyone I thought he was the killer."

"She knew though. I think she knew from the moment she found out her grandmother was murdered. I don't think she knew why, but I think she did know." She was smiling a smile that looked very much like Caius', "Now we all know why."

"She's going to get herself killed." I moved to follow Raven, but Holly stopped me again.

"Seth, if there's anyone more capable of bringing that girl back, it's her father. They are the last of their kind, and she is too young to out man him."

I was so tired of being out of the loop, "Why do you always talk about them like they are so different? I thought she was…Rowan, whatever that means."

Holly nodded, leading me to sit on the wooden porch swing. "They are Rowan, and yet, they aren't."

"How?" I looked at her, and was surprised to see color in her skin, her cheeks flushed as she said silently for a minute, breathing slow, steady breaths. She looked more human than I'd ever seen her look.

"When I was younger," She began, adopting the soft voice of someone who was an adept storyteller, "I stopped sleeping through the night. In the night, I would wander through the castle. Then I came upon the library when I was seven. It was wondrous, I'd never been shown it, my tutors and parents didn't think us able to read books like that yet. But I could. It was larger than any other room in the castle, which is saying something; everything was plated in gold, with tall ceilings and long rolling ladders on each wall. I read every book in that grand library by the time I was eleven, once, twice, and even three times over. Then one day, I found a locked room, off in one of the darker corners. It was actually the day after I was bound."

"Bound?" I asked, still not understanding where she was going with all of this.

She smiled, "They thought that by binding me to the family by blood, I would be less likely to work against them. They didn't know what they were doing though, when they bound me to Lilly. That's why I'm so loyal to her. She's my sister, in mind, in blood, but not birth. But that doesn't really matter to me. That's why I had to help her do this, she was going to do it without help and get herself killed anyway."

She shook her head, "In any case, the library, apparently had a section for the royals and the royals alone. It was old, hadn't been cleaned in years, and I had to have Oliver draw me a key to fit, telling him it was for my closet. In it, I found ancient spell books, the written history of the Old Regime, the early history of the New Regime, and,"

She paused for dramatic affect, but I just glared at her, "three books on Rowan genealogy. That's when I first knew that Lilly, in no way, could be the child of Anna and Chrys. Most Rowan follow the same set of internal rules, but not the wolves. They are stronger, faster, and were almost all killed when the New Regime came to power. The defining fact is that to be a wolf, one of your parents or grandparents must be one. None of Lilly's were. Chrys was a bear and his mother was a lioness, Anna a squirrel. The rest, human. I didn't worry about it at first, but when all of this started going down, I revisited that time in my life, and came upon the very real possibility that Lilly and Oliver were the children of someone related to Rave. I looked into his past, and found nothing, that is until he joined the Guard after saving the prince when he was about eighteen."

"Then you must have realized that he was their father." I concluded, trying to wrap my head around all of this.

She nodded, "Yes, that was just days before we came here. Rave's mother is a Healer…who knows how old she actually is."

"How long ago did the Old Regime fall?" Valentine appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"Two hundred and twenty years ago." Holly answered.

"Ahh, then I'm two hundred and thirty five years old. I was fifteen when the Regime ended. Time flies when you can live forever." The violet-eyed woman said. "Actually, they're different because of me." She said, inserting herself into our conversation, "I was the youngest daughter of the lion Banríon Kearia, the Queen of Avalon and direct descendent of Arthur, and her mate Rí Galvin, a wolf."

"My mother was a young queen, very, very young. She gave birth to my oldest sister, Cathan when she was twelve. My father was a bit older, sixteen at the time. They weren't ready to rule, and the Avon's, our enemies that later called themselves the Daven's, took advantage of that fact, killing off the members of the royal house one by one. Then only my mother was left."

"We were a rigid society, so the entire fate of our people rested on a child and her teenaged husband. They fared better than anyone had anticipated, having two more daughters, Deirdra and Flannery, before she was fourteen. I was born just over a year after Flannery. The instant I was born, my parents wanted nothing to do with me. I was born on St. Valentine's day so they said the least they could do would be to name me Valentine to get some honor. My brother Fallon was born late that very same December."

"My sister Cathan was killed in an attack when she was ten, and Flannery died within the first few months after my birth. Naturally, that was blamed on me. I was raised by one of my mother's handmaidens. I led a sad life of loneliness, only my brother would even speak to me, but he always fled from my touch. The war was at a standstill, battles breaking out every month or so, but around when I turned fourteen, all of that changed. Deirdra came of age. She was lovely, fair, and the perfect lady. Suddenly, they wanted her. And they got her. She was to marry one of the Avon's high generals, for peace, but she chose death instead of enslavement for her people. The bloody war lasted over a year. My father was killed in battle, and then my mother when they infiltrated the castle. I was healing all the men I could, but you can't heal death. It was over. I took Fallon and ran."

"We stole horses from the Avon's and rode them to near death. We began to care for each other after that. Men always seem to put their lives in danger for mine. Fallon told me to keep running, that he wouldn't let another one of his sisters die. He was too noble, a lion like our mother, but I ran anyway."

"You ended up in this world." Holly finished. Valentine nodded. "You know, the history books never do say what happened to you or Fallon. Perhaps he found a nice girl and they settled down."

Valentine smiled a little, "Maybe. But the fact is, my sister doomed us, and my brother chose to save me. I regret it. I should have kept him with me. They followed anyway, and that's how I ended up losing my son. Lilly reminds me of Cathan. She was the oldest, so she was raised to be queen, and she was also a wolf, from our father, a decedent of Lancelot. I was so sad when she died. It was her own fault. Like Lilly, she ducked out of the wall of protection in the middle of a battle thinking that she could help. They captured her, and her dead body arrived at the castle gates the next day."

"That's terrible." I said, now even more worried about my mate than I was before, "What about the silver eyes?" I said, with sudden inspiration.

Holly grinned conspiratorially, "Another clue. The silver eyes are passed from mother to child. Men only pass down blue, hence Ivy and Moss."

"So if someone found these books, they would have known?" I concluded, glad I was finally figuring things out.

"Yes, they would have. Mother must have locked the chamber." The half vampire replied.

Valentine stood, "I must go. My son is returning and I'm not sure he wants to see me right now." She smiled, "He's angry at the little one."

I suddenly remembered how stupid Lilly had been, running off on her own, "He should be! She could have gotten herself killed!" I was ready for a fight by the time Raven brought my wayward mate back.

* * *

So, Seth's unhappy and Raven is pissed. Poor Lilly is going to get an earful. Hope you liked the back ground, that should be the last story time chapter. By the end of the next chapter, they will be in Avalon...teehee. ;) Please, review. They give me inspiration, and now I'm working at least four days a week, nine to five. Summer jobs! Yay! I will also answer any questions you have, so review!

-Jenn


	4. Caution

Here's another chapter, my loves. This will probably be the last one for a little while seeing as I go back to school on Monday, but if you all review enough, I might be inclined to get another chappie on the fire. Enjoy!

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_**In Between**_

_**Chapter Three**_

_**Lilly Davenport**_

Rave sat me down on the porch swing. "Don't ever do anything like that again." He said, looking more concerned than angry.

"I won't." I said dejectedly.

He kissed the top of my head, "I was worried about you. We will go to Avalon, together, but first, we need to figure out a plan."

"Okay." I'd decided early this morning that if they caught me, than my solo trip wasn't meant to be. I looked at Holly darkly, "That worked out well."

She shrugged, smiling, and I was surprised by how human she looked. "Sorry, but your double couldn't pass the kiss test. My boy Seth is too smart. Or maybe he knows you better than I though."

"Eww! You had it kiss him!" I said.

She chuckled, "Yup!"

"You wanted me to get caught!"

She shrugged, "Maybe." She nodded, "You needed to learn this lesson. You're a pack animal, Lilly. You need help to achieve your goal. You don't have to protect anyone any more. Let them protect you."

"Okay." I said, suppressing the fact that I was still angry that she had had her…illusion kiss my mate.

"Alright, to the dining room! We have an invasion to plan. Where are the Cullens? Someone needs to call them." Holly practically skipped back into the house.

"Has she ever acted like this before?" Seth asked, holding my hand as we walked to the door. Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"No, never." I said, shaking my head, "I guess an impending invasion has her really happy."

"She's sick." I shrieked, looking to where Jason was hanging upside down above the porch steps, hanging onto the gutter. He flipped backwards with a vampire's grace, landing without a sound on the porch steps.

"What do you mean?" Raven asked.

The blonde man sighed, "She hasn't eaten since you all got here, blood or otherwise. She's vomited up all of the blood I've had her drink and she's had several nosebleeds since last week. I took her to her father yesterday, but she hates him so... she didn't tell him. She was pissed at me, but now she's like this, ignoring me and her father, but running around like she's the happiest person in the world."

Seth looked worried, "Nessie, Bella and Edward's daughter, is healthy. They're both half vampires. Why would one be sick and the other not?"

Jason shrugged, "I'm not sure, but Holly has always said that she's never felt right. I've theorized that her human and vampire halves have never truly merged. She's angry all the time, which is human, but she masks it more often than not. She won't sleep for months, and then she'll suddenly sleep for thirteen hours. It's like watching someone with Alzheimer's, you watch them get sicker over the years but there is nothing you can do about it. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when the end comes for her. I thought we'd have longer, but the vampire side of her is suffering now, just as much as the human side is. Did you know that her vision comes and goes?"

"No, I didn't." I mumbled, shocked by his monologue.

"It does, she uses a glamour to hide it, but it does. I'm hoping that the human side of her is just over taken by the vampire and she'll just complete the change, but if she doesn't start taking blood soon, it won't matter." He concluded, hanging his head and walking past us. "Never mind. Right now it's not important. Sorry to bring the doom and gloom early." He walked into the house.

I looked up at Seth and asked incredulously, "You're friends with him?"

He had a bemused expression on his face, "Yeah, he's a little depressive, but most of the time he's great. He used to just be worried about homework. I guess things really have changed."

I slid my hand into his and rested my head on his shoulder. "Yeah, they have. But I think in the end, everything will be okay. We'll have each other."

He laughed, nuzzling my forehead, "Yes, Miss. Lone Wolf, we will have each other." He tilted my chin up and kissed me, more soundly than I could remember. I put my hands on his neck and urged him on with a soft moan. His tongue flicked against my lips.

My father walked by us, "Keep your tongue in your mouth if you want to keep it, boy."

We both laughed and I kissed him one more time, "Come on, we need to get this all figured out."

Holly had a map out on the dining room table, and I shifted uncomfortably when I noticed it was a map of Avalon, "Holly?"

"Mmhm?" She hummed, holding a pencil in between her lips as she scrawled something on the map in black ink.

"What are you doing?"

She took the pencil out of her mouth, "Planning. I think we'll head in roundabouts Anadltân, and head directly West. Close enough that we can get home fairly quickly, but it also leaves us a way to escape through the Eastern pass, if he's gained control of the gates. If he has, we can get in, but not out."

"Holly," I began, pointing at a place on the map, "it would be better to go through Galon…"

"No." She said, cutting me off, "We are not going there. Listen to me…"

I was sick of her being a baby. "No, Hollyhock Adendril Landry-Daven, you listen to me. Going through Galon is safer, it's closer to home and it's easier for us to go through the Northern Pass as an escape. Have you not noticed that the Eastern Pass is only a tiny little bridge, and vampires weigh a bit more than humans do. Also, what made you think it would be a good idea to go to the only part of Avalon where nonhumans are openly shunned? Are you trying to get us killed?"

She looked like she was going to cry for an instant, but I held my ground, staring her down with all the anger I could muster on my face. It seemed to work, she bowed her head in submission, "I'm sorry. You're right. Forgive me."

"What's wrong with this Gallon place?" Jacob asked, squinting at the map, "What does that even mean?"

I laughed, and he glared at me. I shrugged, "It's actually Ga-lone, and nothing is wrong with it. It's Welsh. The town used to be called Galon a Rhew, meaning ice heart. They shortened it to Galon a long time ago. Holly's upset because it's…"

"Where I am from." The vampire that was Holly's father interrupted. "I was born there many thousands of years ago, and it's where I met Holly's mother some twenty two years back."

"Heavens." A soft voice whispered, my…mother, I recognized. "It was you. She said she had someone waiting for her at home that she thought she might love. It was you. You are the one she talked about."

A smile teased his lips, "Yes, princess, I was hers."

She shook her head, sending a riot of blonde hair everywhere, "I never thought…there was six years between then and when Holly was born. I never thought it was you in the beginning."

"I spent thirteen years loving that woman. They were the most happy thirteen years of my life. What I didn't know was that for seven of those years, she was dead." He touched his daughter's shoulder, "I'm sorry I wasn't there to save her, but it doesn't mean you can put the rest of us in danger by wanting to avoid your birthplace."

"You don't understand father!" She said the title mockingly, "They hate me there. I'm the reason she's dead. My uncle said that the last time we visited."

"Holly, that's not really fair. We didn't actually hear him say that." I said softly, realizing that another family had been torn apart by the woman who was supposed to take care of us.

She looked like I'd struck her, and her eyes welled with tears. "No." She breathed, and the tears overflowed, running down her face leaving wet…red trails. The smell of blood filled the air. She was suddenly wrapped in her husband's arms, and he glared at us all before disappearing into dust. I heard my mother sigh while the rest of us just stared in shock.

My mother shook her head, "That's enough family drama for one day. We need to do this without her. I don't think she can take it. Raven, you should take this over, you aren't the head of the guard for nothing."

My father was leaned up against the wall, looking at me with a smug expression on his face, "No, Laine, I think the girl's doing just fine. Lilly, keep going."

I took a deep breath, "Alright, we should go in through Galon, they can help our more conspicuous friends blend in… That reminds me, who's coming?"

Carlisle walked through the door at that moment, followed by the rest of his coven. Their gold eyes had thrown me off before I had changed, but now the fact that they were vampires was obvious to me. A little girl separated from the rest of them, flinging herself at Jacob, who caught her, holding her in his arms like he was completely used to it.

Edward smiled at me, "She's my daughter."

"Your daughter?" Raven asked, curious.

Bella took Edwards hand, "Yes, she was born before I turned, she's two. Renesmee, say hi."

The little girl looked at us over her shoulder, smiling brightly, and saying in an eerily clear voice, "Hello."

I guess that was why Carlisle had been so interested in Holly's boy, the little girl in Jacob's arms looked nearer to eight than two. I shook it off, I had other things to do, like save my brother…the murderer. How perverse was that? "Are you all in?"

Edward looked at his family, "Rosalie, Esme and Carlisle are staying with Nessie. Emmett's in, as are Jasper and Alice. Bella and I as well."

The big one called Emmett cracked his knuckles. My father and I both growled instinctively. It was against our natures to be around this many vampires. His eyes widened, "Sorry."

My father shook his head, "No, it's our fault, we're not used to having to play nice with leeches. It's usually tear apart and ask questions after the fire's burned out." All of the Cullens recoiled, "Sam, Jacob, how many of your people are coming?"

Jacob sighed, not enjoying having to be serious, but trading quiet words with Sam, "Well, we all know Seth will be going. So, it will be me, Leah, Paul, Embry, Collin and Quil. That enough?"

Raven had taken the spot of meeting head, but I wasn't done. "No, there is no way I'm letting Seth go. It goes against my very nature. I won't allow him to be put in harm's way."

My father glared me into submission, the both of us ignoring Seth's outraged protests, "He's not human, Lilly. He's safer with you than without you. I didn't think you needed me to say it, but sit down, shut up and do as you're told."

"Yes sir." I said, sitting down and giving him my attention. I was a princess, yes, but I'd never gone against Raven, and I wasn't going to start now. That just meant that I would have to be extra cautious.

"Any way, yes, that should be enough from you all. Who else?" Raven said, looking out at the other nonhuman faces scattered around us.

"I'm going." The ancient vampire in the corner said, "I have powers that may be of use."

"As do I." My mother said, looking up at my father, her jaw set, as if daring him to tell her no.

"Elaine." He said, sighing.

"No, Raven, I'm not letting you leave me again, where you go, I go. From now on." She smiled at Esme, "Would you mind watching my kids?"

"Ms. Dicey, really, Marcus and I have you covered." Izzy protested.

Esme smiled, "I'll check in on them." Izzy relented with a nod, seeming to like the motherly vampire.

"I will be going, of course." We all turned to stare at my youngest…cousin. Gerry looked back at us emotionlessly, "Don't even try to stop me."

Jacob didn't get it, "What! You're just going to let a little girl…" He started holding his throat, gagging.

Gerry was staring at him, her violet eyes dark. "Gerry!" I yelled, breaking her concentration. Jacob stopped struggling to breath.

I yanked the little girl to me, holding her shoulders tightly in my hands. "Why did you do that?"

"I don't like being called little." Her voice was empty, "As well as the fact that, unlike his kind, I can't die."

Jacob was glaring at her, "What do you mean, you can't die?"

She smiled, and it was creepy…like most things she did. Edward chuckled. "I'm immortal, and unlike your undead friends, you can chop me up and burn me, and I'll still put myself back together. It's just one of the joys of being what I am. I'm going, and really, it was just curtsey for me to ask in the first place."

"Can't we…lock her in a room?" Seth asked.

I laughed, "No, she is right though. No one can contain a Healer. They go where they want when they want to."

Jacob almost rolled his eyes, but caught himself. Raven chuckled, "That's true. Now, what about Holly and Ja…son?"

"I'll go." Holly had reappeared, standing against the wall, looking weak again.

Gerry smiled at her, "Yes, you will, once I've removed the toxins from your system."

"Toxins?" Holly and I said in unison.

Gerry nodded, approaching her…our adopted sister. She took one of her pale, fragile looking hands in her own, "Hold still. This may hurt just a bit."

Holly flinched a few moments after, but we all watched as color rushed into her cheeks and her long black hair started to shine. She didn't look dead or human, she looked like Renesmee, her cheeks stained with the blood rushing through her veins, and her scent changed accordingly. "What did you do?"

Gerry shrugged, "The blood our parents have always given you was poisoned. Our mother was trying to find a way to rid you of your stronger, vampire half. Unfortunately, she ended up nearly killing all of you. This last dose would have killed you had your mate not forced clean blood down you."

Holly scooped up the girl, hugging her tightly, "Ger, I haven't felt this great in years. There's no way I'm staying here now."

I noticed that my mother was shaking in fury. She stood in front of my father, "Raven, so help me god, I will kill that woman. She's ruined too much. Taken too much from others." She looked at me regretfully, "She's the reason we haven't spent the last seventeen years raising our daughter. It's her fault. Please, tell me I can kill her."

"I can neither confirm nor deny that statement." He said after a long pause. "We're splitting into two groups. Group one: You will follow Lilly in the main city. She know is better than she should. That will be, Seth, Leah, Jasper, Alice, and Jacob. Jasper, your main goal is to make sure no one notices Alice and yourself. Vampires aren't welcome in the city, and if anyone notices, it will all be ruined. Group two will come at night, but you all will go today. Your odd colored eyes will protect you fairly welll, but you must stay out of the sun. Lilly, I believe you know what to do?" I did, and nodded, apprehension building in the pit of my stomach.

He continued, "I will lead group two, you all will go through Galon. Edward, Bella, Collin, Quil, Embry, Emmett, Paul, Holly, Lucian, and Elaine. Stealth and speed." He took a deep breath, "That's all. Group one heads out in three hours. Make sure everyone is full." He added with a pointed look at the vampires. "Lilly, Holly, find something for Alice to wear."

Alice looked horrified, "I have things to wear!"

Holly giggled, "Yeah, but do you have anything like…fairy tale princess?"

They dissolved into a conversation on appropriate clothes in Avalon that I quickly dismissed. Warm arms encircled my waist, "You alright?" I nodded, looking up at my mate, "Good. I love you." He kissed me, and we both knew how the other felt. We could do this, together.

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Whoo! Another chapter! Hope you liked it! Here's a little bonus.

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"Elaine." I turned around unwillingly, but looked him in the eyes.

"Yes?"

Raven smiled the hurt little smile he was so good at, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Leaving you when you begged me not to." He said, his dark eyes sad.

I nodded, "I am too." I wouldn't give into him. I'd spent this long angry, and I wasn't going to change it. That was until I nearly looked into his eyes, nearly fell into those big brown traps. I looked away from his handsome face, "I'm sorry about being so rough at the hospital. It's just...I can't lose anymore." I looked at me daughter, sitting in a corner, quietly talking to her mate as they held hands, scan centimeters between them. "I would have given the world to have taken her from there. Both of them. I did nothing, and I lost all of you." I scoffed, "Oh, and guess what? Our son is a murderer. Isn't that great?"

I only realized that tears were running down my face when Raven brushed them off my cheeks, but kept his hand on my chin, "It wasn't your fault, Laine. You were young. You couldn't do anything." He paused, running is thumb over my left cheek, "I can't blame any of this on you. And...I still love you. With every part of my soul. You're my mate, Elaine. And Lilly is our daughter."

"Oliver's our son though, and look how he turned out." I said bitterly, hiding the fact that I wanted so badly to kiss him.

"Yes, but that wasn't our fault. If we had raised him, he would have been fine. We would have found a way to rid him of his power." He made a rather convincing argument, like he always did.

"I love you." I whispered, and, for the first time in nearly sixteen years, Raven kissed me. It was filled with regret and pain, but also, the promise of a new way. We would stop our son, together, with our daughter standing by our side. I couldn't ask for anything better than that.

"We can do this." He said when he realized I needed to breath. He suddenly touched the skin around both eyes, "They're gone."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Your Broker marks, they're gone."

"Oh," I said, giggling like a small child in delight. "I guess they all broke." I kissed him, "I...Am...Free!" I'd been counting on that though, because the deal my parents had made with me when I'd been banished was moot. Lilly's real birthday had been today. She was eighteen and changed. A person of my brothers blood no longer held the throne of Avalon. As of today, my daughter did. I looked at her again, now sleeping in her mate's embrace, both blissfully unaware that they had just become the High King and Queen of Avalon, rulers of Camelot.

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Ah, so, not really a bonus...more like part two, but what ever. You were surprised, right? HAPPY TUESDAY!

Okay, so now I'm off to finish watching Power Rangers RPM...I know, I'm too old for it, but PR are one of those things that you forget about for a few years and then get sucked right back in. I'm enjoying it, and RPM might be the best season PR has had in a LONG time, so, if you're like me, you might want to check it out!

Remember to review! Next chapter will be everyone heading to Avalon. Lilly and her group to CAMELOT! And Holly's group, to Galon. (Which you can read about in my Avalon Chronicles: Caius.)

Review,

-Jenn

P.S. Thanks to 'The Clueless'!


	5. Iron

OMG...It's been over a month! You have no idea how sorry I am that it's been so long. School started up at full force, and I suddenly had no time to write. Also, this chapter was really stubborn and didn't work out quite as I'd hoped, but I'm going to take what I can get and move on, you all have waited long enough. I sincerely hope the next chapter is up quicker, and in all actuality, it should be. I have, however, managed to put a number to the amount of chapters left...two, maybe three. In regards to the fact that the last chapter is already written, (Sort of an epilogue actually) this is good news for you guys, and several chapters of my follow up (Now tentatively titled "Raised by Wolves") have been finished as well. All I've got to do is link what I have posted to where is needs to end!

Thanks to all of you for hangin on so long, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!  
**_

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In Between_**

**_Chapter Four_**

**_Alice Cullen_**

We all stood in a circle, holding hands. Lilly looked nervous, but she closed her eyes when her father told her it was time. "Hold on guys, I'm new at this."

Jacob let go of my hand, backing out of the circle, "Woah, I do not want to go with the new inter dimensional driver!"

"Shut up, Jake." Leah snapped, grabbing his hand and pulling him back. Once I was sure he wasn't struggling, I took his other hand again.

"Alice, are we going to be alright?" Seth asked, a little leery.

I nodded. I'd seen us standing here with everyone else, and then us suddenly being in a different forest alone. We'd looked fine.

Both wolves calmed considerably, and Lilly closed her eyes again. The noise around us ceased, and she let go of my hand, "I did it!"

We were right where I thought we'd be, with a new addition. Gerry was standing in the center of the circle, wearing a silver dress in the same style as my own blue one. Lilly's dress was less intricate, which had surprised me. It was a pale green, corseted in the front and layered like a simple nightgown.

I had been surprised when Elaine had told us that the fashion was more like that from Carlisle's era than any of our own. Of course, it had been no problem for me to find appropriate dresses for Leah and I in one of my closets, even though I had been forced to run to a house in Canada to get them. Lilly's dress had been her mother's, and the similarities between the two were achingly obvious once you knew the truth.

I looked at Lilly now, she had stopped giggling in joy. "Something's wrong." She said, horror written on her face.

"You feel it too?" Gerry said, in a voice very similar to Nessie's, smooth and clear, too old for the small body it was housed in. With the bright violet eyes, it was eerie.

"Wait a second." Lilly whispered.

A man stepped into our clearing, "Lilly, fy nghariad, dwi wedi colli chi!" Lilly, my love, I've missed you!

Lilly spun around, her eyes wide in joy, "Scotch! O fy Nuw!" Oh my God!

She threw herself at the man, and shocked us all by kissing him on the lips. Seth growled. Lilly giggled, biting her lip.

The blond man who still had his arms around her chuckled, "Oops, looks like some one found herself a mate." He was handsome, with a worn look about his young face. He put his head on top of Lilly's, "Love, I think he's going to eat me if you don't let go."

She spun away from him, and I noticed something different about her, there was a…vitality that hadn't been there before, her skin shone and her eyes swirled like molten mercury. She looked just about as human as I did.

"You lot have never seen her like this, have you?" The man, Scotch, said.

"No, why did you kiss her?" Seth growled out.

The blond man shrugged, "I kissed her because, until I realized otherwise a few moments ago it's falsity, we were engaged to be married upon her twentieth birthday." He bowed to Seth, "It was an egregious mistake, my lord, please forgive me."

"Engaged!" Seth yelled, and Jacob held him back.

Jasper sent a wave of calm over everyone. "Seth, calm down." Lilly said, holding her hands out. "It's tradition. We've been engaged since my fifth birthday, in the event that I didn't imprint before my twentieth birthday. Everyone of my…siblings has one." She flinched, glancing at her little sister, "Except for Gerry."

The little girl shrugged, "I don't mind. Men are troublesome."

"Gee, Gerry, that's not an awfully agreeable assessment." Scotch said, ruffling the little girl's hair. "I insatiably insist that you find a friendlier estimation of my gender."

She shrugged, "Maybe, but I don't need a man to be one with the world."

"Why is she so creepy?" Leah asked.

Scotch scooped up the little girl. "Well, she's creepy because, like me, she's nowhere near human." He kissed her on the cheek, "Isn't that right, my little Morgause?"

"Back off Pellinore." She groused, wriggling in his arms.

He chuckled, dropping her to her feet. "Sorry, old habits, like annoying you to the ends of the Earth, are hard to kick."

"What the hell?" Leah said.

Gerry huffed, brushing off her dress, "Old history, nothing to worry about. Scotch is just a dirty old man who should be put down like a dog."

"Ohh! That burns beautifully my buttercup." He smiled at all of our confused expressions, "But really, you all don't need to worry about what our past lives have done now. If you'd like, you can read it all in my biography, which I'm afraid is too heavy for all of you breathing creatures." He took both of Lilly's hands, "None the less, what do you need from me, love?"

"Your help." She said and he nodded.

"I see, yes, I can help you." He kissed her on the forehead, "We never would have fit right anyway, you'd have kicked my pansy arse with great glee daily. It was a nice thing to boast about in the pub with the boys though." He turned to the rest of us, flicking a hand out, "Who want to come inside for a nice cup of tea?" He smiled at Jasper and me, "Or a cup of blood, whichever suits your fancy."

"Inside?" I said, gaping at the small cottage that had just appeared to our right.

"Yes!" Lilly said, grabbing Seth's arm.

The strange man ushered us towards the structure. "Come, come, welcome to my humble abode, where your feet are warm and your drinks are always full."

"Lilly, what is this man?" Seth asked, clinging to his mate.

"I'm a witch." Scotch said without a pause, "Descended from the same era as our dear Lilly actually. That's why I was chosen as her fiancée, old blood with old blood." He winked at Seth, "But nothing is as great as true soul mates. You two are cute together." Lilly flushed, and Seth stuck his chest out in pride.

"Thank you Scotch. So…" She started, fiddling with a hairbrush that was sitting on the small wooden porch, "Going to introduce us to your boy?"

The suave, that was the only word I could find that fit, the suave man gapped at her, "What! How! How did you know?"

Lilly shrugged, "Everyone thinks I'm stupid, but I'm not. It's not too hard to figure out that you spent more time looking at my brother than you did me."

He frowned, "Girl, get inside, you're not stupid, you're too smart for your own good."

We went inside, to a small, cozy little living room that could have been the next-door neighbor to Edward and Bella's cottage. It was too cute.

So was the girl sitting behind the kitchen table, at first. She had a book in her hands, and when she looked up, at first glance, the silver rim of a pair of glasses flashed, "Scotch, you're home!" She stood and came closer and I realized that she didn't have glasses on, but the silver was actually embedded under her right eye, the skin tinged pink at the edges of the wound. She was grotesquely beautiful: thin, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and her skin was even paler than my own.

"Everyone, meet my sister, Serine. Yes, I know, odd names, our father was a bit depressing." Scotch said, walking to her and embracing her lovingly. There was something warm about watching them, she looked sick and frail while he was vibrant and strong, protecting her. That was until I noticed the manacles affixed around her wrists. Although unnoticeable to the human eye, I noticed that every time the metal came in contact with her skin, the flesh flared red.

She pulled away from her brother, "Oh, you brought friends!" She looked us over, "Can I keep one as a pet?" She reached a hand out.

"NO!" Scotch said, jerking her hand back to her side, "Serine, they're my friends, not pets for you. Do you understand me?"

She pouted, plopping down into a plush chair with a resigned sigh. "So this is Serine." Lilly said, inspecting the strange girl.

Scotch suddenly looked guarded, "Lilly…"

"No, let the girl talk, Scotch, I'm curious as to what interest a half Leanan Sidhe is to a Rowan Princess." Serine said, waving a hand regally at her brother.

Lilly took a deep breath, "I need you to take my brother."

Jasper and I shared a confused look. The strange girl smiled, "A toy?"

"Lilly, no. Serine…" Scotch gasped out, exchanging a look with Seth.

She stepped forward, kneeling in front of the other girl, "Yes, please, I can't kill him. He's my twin. For all intensive purposes, he's my other half. I can't kill him, and I can't let him die." The desperation in her voice was heart breaking. No one had thought about this, about the very real fact that she might have to kill her twin.

The iron girl went towards Lilly, her arms out stretched and her eyes sympathetic. "I understand." She glanced at her own brother, "I could never hurt Scotch."

Ignoring Scotch's protest, Lilly walked forward into the blond girl's arms. They held each other gently, "Thank you." Lilly murmured.

"Yes, I'll help you, princess. I will find him for you, and do what must be done." Serine said, stroking Lilly's hair protectively, suddenly not looking so innocent.

"Serine, no!" Scotch yelled, walking towards them only to trip on a rug that had been flat an instant earlier. He righted himself quickly, and the girls parted, "Serine, don't do this."

She shook her head, "I have to." She cupped his face in her hands and kissed his forehead, "You are the only link to my humanity I have left. I would go to any means to keep you safe, and all I'm asking of the girl is that she return the favor should you ever get into a jam I can't help you out of."

He turned his sights to Lilly, "Please don't ask her to do this, you know why I've kept her here." Her brother was the one imprisoning her? "I can't lose her."

"Brother, you can't keep me from using my gift, and we both know that the only reason I have stayed here as long as I have is because I love you. These chains are no match against me. They may burn, but they are nowhere near strong enough to hold me."

"I know." He said, deflating comically.

Serine turned back to Lilly, "It would be my pleasure to help you. I'll return to you once I've found him." She held her brother's hands, "You must understand, brother, why I cannot refuse?"

He nodded, "Yes, I understand, but it doesn't mean I like it. Please be careful."

"I will." She said.

"Here, let me get the key to your…" He began.

"No, not to worry, I've got it." She held her hands in front of her and began to work them off her wrists, over her hands, the smell of singed flesh filled the small house. In a few seconds, the restraints dropped to the floor with a clang, and I watched as the skin on her wrists healed nearly as quickly as my own would have. She moved her blond hair and pulled an iron collar off her neck, pulling the metal apart and letting it join it's cousin's on the floor. She waved at us, smiling at Lilly and her brother, "Bye!" She became translucent first, and then she was gone, a shadow.

"Serine, be careful!" Scotch yelled after her.

"Scotch, why did the iron burn her?" I asked.

He grimaced, "Her mother was an Unseelie Fay, a Leanan Sidhe, more precisely. Fay are allergic to iron. It's the one sure-fire way to keep them weak and contained. Serine is half human though, so her allergy is less severe. I've gone to great lengths to keep her here."

By now, I'd noticed the solid iron door handles and the veins of iron in the window glass, "Why keep her here?" Jasper asked.

"Because, as a halfling, she has a measured amount of humanity that most of the Unseelie lack. The more magic she uses, the weaker her humanity becomes, the more addicted to the power she becomes. Eventually, the human part of her would be burned away, and she would feel nothing but the urge to wreck havoc and cause others pain. She's my sister, I can't let her go without a fight. They don't live in this world, they live in the In-Between, there would be a good chance that I would never see her again." He fixed a look to Lilly, "I hope you realize what you asked her to do."

Lilly stood straighter, holding Seth's hand, "I do, and I'm sorry."

Scotch looked at her despairingly, "Don't apologies to me. He's hers now, Lilly. You just gave a demon dog a broken chew toy. He won't have the strength of mind to resist her. He can't trade his life, only his free will. He will spend the rest of his life, enslaved to my sister, her mindless pet artist."

A tear ran down Lilly's cheek, and I realized, that more than any of us, she would lose the most in the end of all this. We could return to normal, but she couldn't. I saw so much grief in her eyes, and wanted to cry with her. She clutched Seth's hand like it was her last lifeline, the only thing keeping her pinned down. I looked up at Jazz and realized that it was just like how I felt about him. He noticed my gaze, and looked down at me. I hugged him, nestling my head against his shoulder.

We left Scotch not long after, leaving Gerry behind after she promised she'd be there when we needed her. After only a few hours at a relatively slow pace, considering the company, we came upon a carnival. "We're here." Lilly said, an exhilarated expression on her glowing face, "Everyone, welcome, to Camelot."

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Ahhh, Camelot... :) To Lilly, home sweet home, to everyone else... WTF (Pardon my abbreviated expletive, but it's what they're all thinking.)

Next chapter will be back in Lilly's POV with a little part at the beginning (Or the end) of someone else... once I decide who.

Also, for those of you not familiar with Fairy terms, I give you, a Wikipedia definition:

_In Celtic folklore, the **leanan sídhe** is a beautiful woman of the fairy folk who takes a human lover. Lovers of the leanan sídhe are said to live brief, though highly inspired, lives. The leanan sídhe is generally depicted as a beautiful muse, who offers inspiration to an artist in exchange for their love and devotion; however, this frequently results in madness for the artist, as well as premature death._

Serine won't kill Oliver because she's half human and doesn't need to feed on his soul to survive, so, yeah, don't get angry about that... she won't kill him.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and want to leave a REVIEW!

See you next time,

-Jenn


	6. Blue

_I'm so sorry it's been so long! The chapter didn't want to cooperate until this morning. Also, this should be one of the last chapter. Only two or three more before we head on to 'The Avalon Chronicles: Jenna', with Seth and Lilly's oldest daughter. The next chapter shouldn't take too long, but I'll be in New York next weekend, so I have to pack and get as much actual work done before then. I should get more inspiration though, never been to New York or anywhere near it. This chapter get a little dark towards the end, so be warned!_

_Enjoy and **Review**!_

_-Jenn_

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**_Jacob Black_**

Camelot, that was the name of their capitol, Lilly explained, confused by our stunned expressions. Seth just shook his head, and I knew why. As strange as things had been these last few weeks, why couldn't the famous mythological city be real?

A girl with dark curly hair walked up to us, reaching out towards Lilly, "My lady, why have you returned?"

Lilly looked stricken, "Michaela? What is that supposed to mean?"

The girl looked over her shoulder, "My lady, you must leave! It's not safe for you here. Its not safe for anyone any more. We must move quickly before he comes back."

"He?"

"You're brother, my lady. He's taken over. The only reason the market is still up is because he told everyone to stay as they were or be killed. He's trapped everyone in the city. He's gone mad. Just this morning he killed three families caught trying to leave through the tunnels. Children, my lady, even the children. We must get out of the street." Suddenly, a dog ran _through_ the girl. She looked down ashamed.

"You're dead?" Lilly gasped.

Well didn't that just top things off, we were in Camelot, talking to a ghost. Michaela nodded, "I was killed..."

"When you helped me get out?"

The girl shook her head, "No, my Lady, I've been dead since you were an infant. My sister and I tried to steal you and your brother away when you were babies. We've joined our sister in the ghostly plane."

"I remember hearing about that. Why did you do it?" Lilly asked, looking at the girl thoughtfully.

Michaela shrugged, "It is our duty. My sister's and I were born to protect the descendants of Arthur. Were not actual sisters, but we like to think of each other as such. For every heir, one of the Sisters is born. We're raised by the Fay in the City of Light." Her smile faded. "My sister Ilse was to protect your grandmother, and Karina was to protect your father and his mate. I was born to protect you and your brother. Don't feel bad about my death, your life means more than mine, always. Sister Orella will be born soon to protect your children." She winked, glancing at Seth, "You and your mate are very fruitful." Lilly and Seth both flushed scarlet and Leah giggled before realizing that he was her brother and began to gag.

"You are supposed to protect me? How can you? You're dead." Lilly said, recovering from the allusion to her sex life.

"I can guide you. Like now, we need to get you to the castle. Nigel needs help." Michaela said, gesturing to the large grey building in front of us.

"I thought you wanted us to get away." Lilly said, making no move to follow the ghost.

Michaela nodded, "I did, but my orders just changed, I'm to sneak you all into the castle instead."

"Is it really a good idea to go to where the murdering dictator is?" I said.

Michaela rolled her eyes, "We're not going to the castle through the front door, we need to go to the dungeons. That's where they're keeping Nigel. He doesn't have long. Ilse is with him, she's doing what she can, but short of feeding her life energy to him, as a ghost, she can't do much. He needs the sun."

Lilly looked horrified, "He's underground?"

Michaela nodded, "Yes, without any light and a Cloi around his neck. He's been there for nearly three weeks." The way she said it was like that made all the sense in the world, and Lilly looked horrified.

"What's the big deal about no sunlight, so he gets a little pale, what's wrong with that?" Seth asked.

"Seth, Nigel is a snake, he can't control his own body temperature like we can. We can regulate our own temperature, but Nigel relies on sunlight to keep himself from freezing. He is inherently cold blooded. They must be using a heat lamp for him to have been alive for this long. The Cloi weakens Rowan to the point where we can't shift or use our extra strength, he can't escape." Lilly seemed to be really upset. "It's so barbaric." She added with a shiver.

"Let's go then." Seth said, holding her hand.

We followed the ghost to the side of the castle. She had Lilly and Seth pull up a trap door and we all piled inside. The tunnel we walked through took us to the deepest parts of the castle and Lilly said she could smell Nigel and Oliver, as well as Serine.

All I smelled was death.

At the end of the tunnel, we emerged into a dimly lit room. At the same time, a knock out of a girl walked in, "What are you doing here?" She yelled, her red hair looking like a lions mane.

"I could ask you the same thing, Cora." Lilly said, her voice menacing. She knew the girl, obviously.

The human girl started to run back up the stairs, but Lilly grabbed her and shoved her against the wall. "My lady!" The girl yelled in fright, "Please don't hurt me!"

"Where are my brothers'?" Lilly growled.

The scared look on the girl's face faded, replaced by a malicious grin. "You just missed them, and the little fay girl too. Really, clever Lilly, I'm surprised. I always thought your brother had the brains. You, I expected, but her, she was a treat."

In the next seconds, Lilly slammed against the opposite wall of the hall and the other girl disappeared. Standing up, wheezing slightly, Lilly swore in what I assumed was Welsh. Alice helped her up, "Who was that?"

Lilly's eyes were dark, "That was Nigel's betrothed, Cora Ashdown. I always thought she was a cheat. I think she's in on all of this." She shook her head, "If they hurt Serine, I won't have to worry about living through all of this, Scotch will kill me."

"Don't worry about me, Princess, no one catches a Fay unless they want to be caught. Siren's mostly just blow hot air anyway. Big bunch of liars." Serine had come from nowhere, standing next to Leah, who looked like she was about to hyperventilate. "They caught me in here trying to help your brothers and came after me, I've given them a tour of the castle. They think I'm four floors up. They've taken Nigel and one Oliver to the throne room."

This time Lilly cursed in English. "Cora is a Siren?" The silvery girl nodded, "How did we not know this?"

Serine shrugged, "Sirens are deceptive. Like snakes, you don't know that they're there until they've already struck."

"Than she's split Oliver already, she's in control."

"Split him?" I asked.

Serine nodded again, "Yes, Sirens draw out bad personality traits in people, and, given enough time, they can separate their goal personality from the rest of the person, giving it it's own body. They can pull out anything, lust, love, greed, in this case, I think it's jealousy, perhaps pride. Either way, it won't be long until he gets rid of her. These creatures, they usually don't take pray that strong. She's gutsy, I'll give her that. Doesn't make her any less stupid though." The half human rubbed a long scar on her arm, "Bitch scratched me with a key. I can't wait to string up her intestines."

"Serine!" Lilly admonished, "Don't talk like that! We need to go, it might be a trap, but I have to save them."

I held up my hands, "Wait a minute, did you just say we're walking into a trap?" Lilly nodded, "Am I the only one who thinks that this is a bad idea?"

"Yes, Jacob, it's a bad idea, but time is not on our side." The teenager snapped at me, "She knows we're here, she could be heading to kill them right now. Trust me, you guys will live through this." She looked down at her feet.

"What about you?" I asked.

She looked up at me, "I'm not sure. But that doesn't really matter now. We have to stop them from taking over Avalon."

Sobered, I nodded, "Okay, let's do this. Lead the way, Princess."

She smiled a tiny little smile and squeezed Seth's hand, "Follow me."

She led us into what must have been the main castle, and we kept to the shadows. It got harder to stay hidden after a while, the castle being more and more well lit, so we took to dodging the rounds of guards looking for us. Lilly got us to a set of large doors in the middle of a big hall, and swung them open.

The sight before us was a gruesome one.

A handful of dead bodies were scattered across the expansive marble flooring. Each looked to have been killed in a different way, and I had to drag my eyes away to keep from vomiting.

It didn't make the room any less horrible to look at. In the center of the room, before a great throne, Oliver Davenport was holding onto the red head from earlier, Cora, his hand wrested in her long hair, his other around her throat, strangling her. She was crying, obviously in pain, but when his red eyes rested upon his twin, he flung the girl to the ground.

He took a step forward with a grotesque smile on his face, "Lilly! Dear sister, what a pleasant surprise. Cora here was just telling me of your return."

He kicked the aforementioned girl out of his way, causing a low moan to escape her lips as she rolled. He stood holding out his arms in welcome. Lilly made no move to go to him, "You are not my brother."

He pouted, "I'm hurt, sister. Of course I'm your brother. What ever made you think otherwise?"

Lilly gestured to the bodies on the floor, "My brother wouldn't have done this." I saw a flash of silver behind him and realized Serine was sneaking towards two still forms covered by a brown sheet right behind the throne.

He sighed dramatically, "Things change, sister; people change. I am no exception." He looked down at his arm and watched himself clench his fist, "Is this how you've always felt? So powerful, deadly?" He laughed, "I can't get enough of it." He held out a bloody hand to her again, "Join me, sister."

"Never." She said, her voice frighteningly and unusually strong.

He shook his head with a smile, "Than you and your friends will die. Forgive me, sister, but I'm done being the worthless brother. We all deserve to die. And you most of all, sister dear. You want to stop me." In a sudden flash of movement, he had Serine by the throat, a blade in his hand.

"Let me go!" She cried, struggling to free herself, her flowing white shirt riding up, exposing her stomach.

Oliver touched the skin of her stomach. "Why hello, little fairy girl." He kissed her slender throat, "You're supposed to wait your turn." She cried out as he bit down on her throat. He pulled away a second later, her oddly blue blood on his mouth, "I do love an eager girl though."

He licked the wound on her neck, and she returned to kicking to free herself, "Get your hands off of me!"

His sadistic smile made my blood run cold, "Pity, we could have had such fun together. Well alright then, since you seem so impatient, you'll go first."

"No!" Lilly cried before he thrust his short blade into Serine's exposed abdomen.

He chuckled, "Too late."


	7. Tala

Here it is! The second to last chapter of my lovely story! (Excluding the epilogue.) I've already finished the next chapter and the epilogue is undergoing final revisions. This chapter is slightly on the short side, but I don't figure that will matter. What does matter, is how quickly the next and final chapters are put up. It depends on you guys! If you haven't read my other Avalon stories, Tala is Ava's mother, Holly's grandmother. This chapter is with the group that went to Galon, and the next chapter will be in Camelot.

On that note, Enjoy and review!

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**_Tala Landry_**

"Welcome home." I said, wrapping the vampire in my arms, "We've missed you, Lucian."

He melted into my touch, "Tala. You don't hate me?"

I brushed his long blonde hair from his face, smiling slightly at his red eyes. He didn't have to hide himself from us anymore. We knew what he was. How could we not? When my daughter's child had been born half vampire, it had been the only possible option that he had been a full one. I kissed his ice cold forehead. "Lucian, I could no more hate you than I could hate one of my own children. I have always thought of you as my son."

"I'm the reason..." He began.

"Ava is not dead, Lucian. We received a blessing just last week. Kai has returned, and brought with her news of our Avalien." I moved to my granddaughter who was standing just as still as her father was, "Celyn, my darling, you will meet your mother, perhaps not tomorrow or next week, but when she is ready, she will return."

The girl sobbed, wavering for an instant, afraid to touch me for fear of rejection, until I held my arms open to her and she clung to me. I kissed her black hair, wishing that her mother had been there to raise her, that I had kept her with me instead of letting Anemone...Brianna...take her. Ava had never told me of her fears about her friend. I hadn't known that it was Anna that had let my daughter hemorrhage to death in her birthing room.

My husband stood in the distance, a smile on his face, not broad, but for him, it was a beaming smile, pride in his eyes. My youngest son, Gavin, was standing at his side, crying. I stepped away from the newcomers and he threw himself at his eldest niece, crying like a child. She must have reminded him as much of our Ava as she had I. She looked just like Ava had the last time he had seen her when he had been just a boy.

Raven brought Elaine closer to me, "Is it true? Are they both alive?"

"Yes, they are. Kai is on her way to Camelot to dethrone a false queen and take your brother from the hands of a witch." Elaine was just a beautiful as she had been the first time I had met her, in that hospital so many years ago, just as young and frail looking. I had worked for over twenty five years to get everyone here to this moment, exactly as it was meant to be.

Elaine looked at me with trepidation. "You aren't going to let us leave, are you?"

I smiled at her, "No, Princess, you and your company are destined to stay right here. This isn't your fight, that honor belongs to your daughter and her mate. If you were to go, you would kill the half sidhe Serine, and as a direct result, both of your children would be dead in a fortnight, and Avalon would fall, cease to exist, all of its inhabitants destroyed." I took the girls hand, rubbing circles into the back of it, trying to sooth her horror, "As much as you want to help them, you can't. Instead you can have whatever you wish in our village." I nodded at the Cullen family members, "Our hunting grounds are at your disposal, just be sure to take what you kill the the village center so that they may be used efficiently. What's ours is yours. My sons and I will escort you to Camelot tomorrow. For now, rest and prepare yourselves for the carnage we must be capable of restoring order to."

I moved to return to my home with my husband when the mid radar must have caught something in my mind. "Wait! What aren't you telling us?"

My husband and I looked at each other, and he Gave me permission to tell, "Edward Cullen, you are quicker than I'd given you credit of being. The vampires, they have made a move upon Avalon. They are going to use the upheaval in Camelot to gain control, enslave the humans left alive and to kill any remaining Rowan."

The looks in my direction we ones of horror, "That will be a blood bath! You have to let us go!" Raven commanded.

I glared back at him evenly, "I'm sorry, but I just can't. We must put our faith in Lilith."

Elaine looked stricken and Raven moved between us, "What are you going on about? Who is Lilith?"

"That's what I was going to name Lilly. Is she..." Elaine began, and I nodded.

"Yes, Princess, your daughter will bring back the Avalon of the old days. She is a mixture of both houses after all. She's a very special girl. Only she can reclaim Avalon without the land killing her. It's been too long since the blood of a Pendragon has sat on the throne. Avalon has always been a living thing, and she will not stand for another false ruler." I turned my back to the newcomers, "Trust in Lilly, and everything will work itself out. I promise. I will see you all back here at dawn. Have a good night."

"You can't be serious, Tala. Please, you can't expect them to just leave their children in the middle of that madness. Have you gone daft?" Lucian spit at me, holding onto his daughter's hand, my Avalien's daughter.

I shook my head, "No, I have not gone daft. Perhaps we will leave earlier than dawn than. When we leave depends on how long it takes Elaine here to figure out what doesn't belong here in the village. I could not expect you to allow me to keep you here, but now I have another way to get you out of your future anger with Serine."

Elaine looked around and I knew the instant she figured it out. The path the future of Avalon was taking took a dramatic turn for the better. "Bitch!" She screamed, running to a tree and scrambling up it like Ava had taught her.

Everyone else was confused, and I just laughed. The profanity the girl had learned over the years was quite amusing. Raven was up the tree with her a few seconds later, asking her if it was she who had lost her mind.

She howled in triumph when she found her target, a small tree squirrel. "I thought it was stupid of you to return here, Brianna. Did you not think I wouldn't know? You were supposed to be smarter than this. I'm glad Fate overestimated you."

Elaine lunged for a knife from the out door dining table. Raven snatched the squirrel from her. "Elaine, you can't kill her."

Elaine's face was flushed with rage, "Why not?"

He stuttered, at a loss for a good reason as to why the treacherous false queen should live. She was an evil creature, she had intended to kill her two best friends, had stolen Kai's true mate and then stolen his sister's children from her bloody fingers. I had no objections to her death, but my heart told me that my daughter wouldn't appreciate the traitor getting such a light sentence.

Raven caught on, "It won't fix anything. Killing her just gives her an easy way out. She needs to be punished for what she's done."

Elaine dropped the wriggling creature on the ground and she instantly transformed into her human form. Her clothes were dirty and she looked terrified. "Tala, please, don't' let her kill me!" She said, groveling at my feet.

"Stand up." I ordered the girl. She just looked at the ground, "Stand up and obey for once in your life you stupid girl."

She stood, and I saw a little girl, not a woman who had birthed four children. Elaine stood nose to nose to her, "I hate you, and would love nothing more than to feel your insides with my fingers. I'm not you though, I'm not going to be the one to deprive your children of their mother." Anna looked relieved. Elaine smiled maliciously, "Did you even know?"

"Know what?" Anna asked, her voice trembling.

"Ivy, Anna, she's dead. The copy of Nigel little Cora made killed her. He would have only done that if she had asked him to. She tried to get her copy to use his power. You're child is dead, mine are alive." The smile was gone from Elaine's face, "I pity you."

Anna sat on the ground, stunned silent. I had Gavin take her inside and told him to make sure she stayed there until we all returned. We left immediately for Camelot and I prayed that we all survived to see the return of my Ava.

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I hope you guys liked it!

Don't forget to review!

-Jenn


	8. Submission

I'm so sorry that the last chapter was confusing, so I'm going to just go ahead and give you the next chapter. So, this is the last chapter of In Between. I'll put up the epilogue when I get some reviews this weekend.

Enjoy!

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**_Oliver Mordred Everest_**

The morning after the near disastrous dinner with the Cullens, I went with Nigel back to Avalon. He wanted to see Cora, and so did I. She'd always been nice to me, and she was pretty too. "Nigel!" She had cried, running to him, wrapping herself around his body, "I missed you."

He kissed her hard on the mouth, "I missed you too, Cor. That's why I had to come back and visit you. Even if I did have to bring my baby brother along."

The red head had shake her head with a small giggle, "Be nice, Nigel. You should go inside. I think your friend Lakshmi is looking for you." She gave him a peck on the cheek, "We'll have more time to catch up later."

Nigel had run into the castle with a broad smile on his face and Cora sat down on a bench, "Oliver, come sit with me. We have much to talk about. Do we not?"

Stupid, I was so stupid. I'd sat next to her and she had proceeded to seduce me, already by that point my emotions were out of control, "Why?" I had finally asked, my only act of resistance.

"Because, we're to be family soon, and why should I only give what I have to offer to one member of your family? You yourself have done so much for me already. Tell me, Oliver, what is the one thing you want most in this world? It can be anything, just tell me."

I'd put a lot of thought into it, "I want to be respected, like dad is. I want to rule Avalon, and I want no one to threaten me." It had been what I'd wanted at the time, something I still would never have acted on.

She had smiled at me, and when the viper had kissed me on the mouth she started feeding on that pent up aggression and desire, focusing it into the dimwitted copy of me she had already created. Over the next few days, I felt myself growing weaker and weaker, and when walking in the tunnels after my grandmothers funeral, I attacked Lilly. I had fallen unconscious and when I woke up, I was in Cora's rooms instead of my own.

She was laying draped over her beige chaise, running her fingers through the hair of a man that looked just like me. "Look, love. He's awake!" She had squealed gleefully.

He had walked to me, with the grace of a cat, "Hello, brother. I can call you brother, can't I? After all, we do have the same DNA."

"You're no brother of mine. Who are you? Why-"

"Do I look just like you?" He said, toeing my face with the heel of his boot, "I am you. A better, more intelligent, less insane version of you."

Cora ran her hand down his chest, "I've saved you, Oliver. You were going mad, losing your mind. I couldn't let someone like you be lost like that. Now, he won't go mad like you will. I'll be able to keep you around with me, with your mind intact."

"I'm going to go mad?"

My copy had smiled, "Yes, you are going to go mad. No one ever told you that, did they? It's the only little problem with your gift of Creation. It destroys your mind. You'll be drooling over yourself as you kill everything in the room around you. Don't worry. I'll take good care of our sister. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her." He looked at me through his eyelashes, "You wouldn't want any harm to befall dear little Lilly, would you?"

"Don't you dare hurt her! She's not your sister."

He smirked and brushed his hair out of his eyes, "Yes, she is. Everything that was yours is mine now." He kissed Cora, groping at her sickeningly willing body, "And I do mean everything."

Once they had taken over Camelot, they had moved me from her rooms to behind the throne, chained there with golden manacles on my wrists and ankles. I had been forced to watch myself kill people and when Nigel had finally come, I'd thought I was free, until he had disappeared into a familiar dust with the sound of ripping paper. He had just been a copy.

Just a minute ago, they had brought the real Nigel to the throne room. He looked like he was dead, and if it wasn't for the slow rise and fall of his chest, no matter how unsteady, I would have thought he was. His skin was white and paper thin, he hadn't been with the family for months, and hadn't seen sun during any of that time. "Nigel!" I had yelled, pulling him to lay on top of me.

My evil copy had just laughed, "We figured we should give you some time with your brother before he dies, and if we're lucky, perhaps sister dearest will come. Now be quiet." He had gagged me before covering us both with a sheet.

I could hear every breath Nigel struggled to take in, his body thin, shaking, and emaciated. He had a gold Cloi around his neck and they hadn't even bothered to tie him up. His skin was cold and he was shivering from lack of heat. He would die if I didn't do anything, so I sat myself on removing the Cloi from his neck.

He stirred when he felt my fingers on his skin, the warmth drawing him from his deathly sleep, his eyes barely bobbing open. "Ollie?" He gasped out with a sigh. I held a finger to my lips for him to be quiet and his eyes fell closed as he managed a slight nod. Just that limited movement seemed to wear him out and his head fell back against me. The Cloi made my fingers itch, but since I wasn't Rowan, it had no real power over me.

After a few tense minutes of struggling to get the thing off without hurting him, I managed to do it, setting the Cloi on the floor next to me. I held my brother, trying to share my warmth with him, and after a few minutes, the color began to return to his face. That color quickly drained from my own when I heard, spoken in my own voice, "Lilly! Dear sister, what a pleasant surprise. Cora here was just telling me of your return."

"You are not my brother." I heard Lilly say, her voice strong, unwavering.

When he asked her to join him it was all I could do not to begin screaming at him...me. I nearly had screamed aloud when the body of a beautiful blond woman fell on top of Nigel and I. She skewed the blanket onto of us so that I could see her face. As an artist, I knew who she was before I had finished analyzing her features. She was Scotch's sister, their faces were too similar to be anything else. She was Serine, his half Leanan Sidhe sister, the dangerous sister he kept locked away. She looked lifeless, a broken doll.

Lilly screamed and the room around me seemed to explode as all of the Rowan in the room burst into their animal forms. It was when I realized that the blade in Serine's toned stomach wasn't iron, just stainless steel, something I'd brought home with me on that fateful visit.

She had a smile on her face and her eyes fluttered open. She winked at me, pulling the blade from her own body without a hint of pain. She sat a key on my chest, the key to my chains. She moved gracefully and lifted herself up like a marionette, using only her legs to slink closer to my copy, who was fighting with Lilly.

She was losing, badly. He was just like me, using all of the tricks I'd learned to use against her, and he knew how to use all of the holes Lilly left that I usually ignored. He was stronger than I was, and just as fast as she was. He moved like a Rowan, not like me.

I watched, riveted until he sunk a blade from his boot into Lilly's chest, just inches from her heart. She screamed, a blood curdling scream, and my whole body chilled to hear my twin's voice cry out in such agony.

Nigel stirred again finally, and I helped him sit up, wanting nothing more to run and help save Lilly from myself. "Come on, Nigel, you need to fight or we have to move." I begged, unlocking the chains from my body.

He opened his eyes and I realized that he wasn't home, at least not the human Nigel. Viper Nigel was the only thing home, and his eyes fixed on where Cora was standing in a corner, shivering as one of the men that had been helping my copy advanced on her. Nigel was off the floor and across the room in a split second, throwing the man away from her. At first I thought he hadn't known that she had been in on our incarcerations... until he turned into a snake and lunged for her. She screamed in panic, running away from him, but I couldn't bare to watch when he eventually got his fangs into her arm, spreading his lethal poison into her body. I'd seen him kill other animals that way. It wasn't a pretty sight, and was an excruciatingly painful way to die. A small part of me pitied her.

Lilly was still fighting, bleeding heavily and sweating just as much, her body at its breaking point. Seth was tearing through people trying to get to her side. He stuck her with the same blade again, but this time, she didn't scream, she just gasped. He had punctured one of her lungs. She fell to the floor, unable to draw in the breath she needed to stay Alice, and ehr body too damaged to heal itself quickly enough to save her life.

Serine was closer and looked a little weak now, but was staying out of sight of my copy. He didn't notice her, until she put a hand on him, "That wasn't very nice. I wasn't done talking, pretty boy." Serine pulled him down by his ankle and fell upon him, covering him with her own bleeding body.

I thought nothing of my connection to my copy until I felt a power in my body that wasn't my own. I looked back at him, and he was struggling in Serine's full bodied grasp, her hands on either side of his thrashing face. My heart sunk to my stomach. I'd forgotten that Serine was a _leanan sidhe_. She was making him hers, forcing him to submit to her, and I could already feel that his submission would mean mine too.

I looked to Lilly, gasping for air on the floor, fighting for her life and mine and understood what I had to do. I pulled myself to my feet and sent my loving thoughts to my sister, hoping she was open enough to getting them, I apologized for everything I'd done and asked her not to hate Serine. There was nothing else I could do but to help the beautiful fay take out the most dangerous thing in the room, myself.

I went to her, feeling calmer than I had in what seemed like forever. My madness had been coming on for years, and I had hidden it well, not letting even Lilly see that I was unstable at all. For months I had fits of anger and jealousy that had turned me into even more of a recluse. I had discovered that my Aunt was actually my Mother when I had found a letter hidden in the dresser in my room, the room that had once been hers. The letter had been written to my father. When we had gotten to Forks I had hunted her down and confronted her, screaming like I had lost my mind, and, at that point, I had been close to doing so.

I put my hands over Serine's and put my flushed cheek against her cold one. "Serine?"

She looked towards me, a sardonic expression on her face, "I hadn't counted on having to heal myself...not sure I have enough juice to finish this."

"Can I help?" I asked.

She smiled, and my stomach fluttered at the beautiful sight, she was so beautiful. "You're already helping, baby. Stay just like that." She closed her blue eyes and leaned into me, fitting perfectly against me. "Good boy."

Her praise made me so happy. That I had pleased her gave me a new, thrilling feeling that I hoped to never forget. It didn't matter to me that my sister was dying, her arm held out to me in desperation. I wasn't there when she needed me. But she'd never really needed me. But Serine, she needed me, she would always need me.

I watched Seth descend upon Lilly, holding her limp form in his arms. Gerry appeared just as he cried out in grief and buried my sister's corpse in his chest. My youngest sister tugged on his grip, but he wouldn't let go until she whispered in his ear. I didn't see what she did, I was too far away, but I smiled in relief when I saw the expression on Seth's face change to one of hope.

"Everything's going to be okay." Serine said, letting my unconscious copy go.

I nodded, taking her hand, "Yes, Mistress. It will. We're going to be together forever now, won't we?"

She brushed hair out of my copy's face, and kissed my cheek, "Yes, pretty boy, the three of us are going to be one big, happy family."

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If you're still confused, please review me or private message me, and I'll try my best to answer your questions. I hope you've enjoyed this story, It's been a long road for me. I'm so thankful to have gotten such a wonderful response from everyone. Please, Review!

-Jenn


	9. Epilogue

Here it is! The epilogue! I desperately hope this clears up some of the confusion from the last two chapters. I'm really sorry they were confusing, but the good news is that from here on out my Jenna story should be entirely less confusing, and closer to Twilight land than Avalon, which will just be mentioned. The epilogue is approximately ten/eleven years after the events of the rest of the story, so a lot has changed.

If you've stuck with me this far, I want to thank you so much. If you need to leave me a review telling me what I still need to clear up, I will get back to you ASAP. The Jenna story should be up in the next few days once I finish editing the crap out of it. It's not going to be an arc story like this one was, just a normal length story.

Please review!

Thanks for staying with me,

-Jenn0509

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They say life is fleeting. I agree. Life is a fickle thing, one moment you're there, and the next, you're gone. Each breath could be your last. I remember that moment. That last gasp of shock as my silver eyes found themselves reflected across the space between. And then it was over, Lilith Morgana Caerwyn Everest was dead. There was no final monologue, or shaking soliloquy. That was it, that was the end, there was nothing more.

"I died." I said, finality ringing in my voice as I felt that familiar phantom pain in the center of my chest.

"But momma, you're not dead now. You're all warm and everything."

I looked down at the little girl tucked snugly in the safety of my arms and smiled. "I know, Meggie. I'm alive now. Your Aunt Gerry saved me."

"How?" My daughter asked curiously.

"She gave me her blood." I responded, sparing my little girl from the gruesome details yet again.

"Oh." She said, playing with the wedding band on my left hand, "How come I've never met Aunt Gerry?"

I thought carefully about how to answer my six-year-old's innocent question, "She figured out how to raise the recently dead. And after saving and bringing back as many people as she could, she vanished. No one has seen her since."

"Wow! Really? Raising the dead? Like vampires!" She said, her silver eyes wide as saucers as she wriggled out of my arms to stand on top of her bed next to me.

Jasper smiled wryly at my youngest daughter, scooping her into his arms. "No, not like vampires! Do you think your mommy is like me?" He growled playfully, tickling her.

She giggled, her whole body jerking in giggly convulsions, "No, Uncle Jasper! Mommy's not like you!" He swung her around. "Aunt Alice! Make him stop!" She begged between giggles, drawing a smile from me.

Alice laughed her musical vampire laugh, "Jazz, if you don't stop, you're going to make her sick." She warned teasingly.

Jasper put my daughter back on her bed and she snuggled up to my side, pouting dramatically. "Sorry, Meggie." He said, peering at her innocently.

She ignored him, "Momma, what happened after that?"

I let out a great sigh, "Aren't you tired of hearing the same story? People have been telling it to over and over again to you all day." Exhausted from my day, I hoped she would fall asleep soon.

She squeezed me, "Momma! Please! I want to hear the end! I like how you tell it the best! Everyone else makes it boring."

I sighed again, "Alright, I'll tell you, but its just the short version and then it's off to bed." She waited for me to continue, "Well, your daddy and I came home to La Push, had Jenivieve and then our little Mererid."

"Me!" She shrieked happily. Jasper and Alice laughed.

I touched her soft cheek, "Yes, you. Things worked themselves out after that. Grandma and Grandpa took back control of Avalon and moved there with Uncle Billy." Billy was nearly grown and already the control of Avalon was drifting to him, my parents wanted to spend more time in Forks with me, Seth, and the girls.

I smiled at the thought of my little brother Billy. He looked like his father, but acted like mine, still with our mother's stubborn attitude though. My dad adored him and would have given the boy a near military upbringing, had my mother not pointed out that she hadn't exactly turned out that well raised that way. That had shut my father up fairly quickly, but it didn't save Billy from being trained to fight like I had. He was tough though, and came to visit still, always harassing Izzy and Marcus.

That pair was still perfect. Marcus worked with Charlie now and Izzy had teamed up with Holly to raise their kids. Izzy and Marcus' daughter, Lena, was three, Lysander was eleven and Jason and Holly's daughter, Sasha Lucia, named after her grandfather, was five. The two couples and their kids lived in the boarding house, and still ran it in my mothers stead.

The original kids that had lived in the house had all left. Jeremy had become a business tycoon, selling new video games to international companies. Rachelle had gone to Alaska and put her chatty nature to good use as a Glacier Bay tour guide. Zaria had become a kick boxing teacher, getting out some of her aggression, and now actually had a fiancé. Kellan and Darla were roommates in Seattle; Kellan was a schoolteacher and Darla an office assistant in a law firm.

There were others now, a few more than the house had originally held, but the integrity of the program continued. My mother and father had built a house just down the street form Charlie's in Forks and were planning on making it their permanent home within the next few years.

Not everyone had been so lucky, Anna was serving a life sentence in the dungeons in Camelot, Cora was dead. Chrys was married to Kai, who had managed to put his fractured psyche back together. She was an exceptionally kind person, but I could tell that she hated how hurt he had been by what Anna had done. She hated Anna. Lucian had moved to Galon with them, leaving the Volturi scrambling to pick up their power base again. They had been little trouble since, but without a stable policing force, the vampire population had spiked, leaving no small amount of hunting for us to do.

"What else? Is that the end?" Megan asked.

"That's it, lovely. That's the end of the story." I said softly, kissing the top of her brown haired head.

She shifted and looked up at me intently with my own eyes, "No, momma, that's not how it's supposed to end."

"Well how is it supposed to end, Miss Megan?" Alice asked.

"Happily ever after. That's how it's supposed to end. That's how all good stories are supposed to end. Ant they all lived happily ever after." Megan said unquestioningly.

"Well than, they all lived happily ever after. Better?" I said.

"Much!" She said, rewarding me with a smile.

A few moments of silence followed.

"Momma, when is daddy coming home?" Megan asked, finally seeming sleepy.

Alice smiled knowingly, "In just a few, little one." We had discovered that Alice could see Rowan, and the La Push wolves that were near us, as long as we were in our human form. That had made her a very happy little vampire once she could keep tabs on nearly all of her 'family'.

"Really, Momma?" Megan asked, her eyes flashing with excitement.

"Yes, love. Remember what I've always told you? Always listen to Aunt Alice, she's nearly almost always right."

"Almost always..." Jasper murmured in amusement and Alice scoffed at the both of us.

Megan giggled. "Okay."

It took about three minutes for Megan to be out like a light, "So, when are you telling Seth?"

I put my hand on my stomach, "I told him when he met everyone at the house. You know, when he didn't feel good."

Alice giggled, "You had a good nap than?"

I blushed, and shook my head, "Yes...once he calmed down. After that he was like normal. He's being a bit obnoxious about it all. I'd forgotten about how he acted the last time..."

"Lilly, Jenna in five." Alice hissed, and she and Jasper jumped out the open nursery window.

"Momma?" My nine year old said sleepily, rubbing her eyes, "I heard voices."

"Yes, love, I was just telling Meggie a bedtime story." I half lied smoothly.

"Oh..." Jenna trailed off, blinking drowsily at me.

"Come here, love." I said, holding out my free arm.

She dove willingly onto her sister's daybed, and into my arms. She rested her head on my shoulder and let her eyelids close over her deep hazel eyes, her father's eyes. "You're so warm, momma." She murmured.

I kissed both of them on the head; first my youngest, the one that was my carbon copy with the same brown hair and silver eyes. She was warm, Rowan, like me, and just as feisty as I had been at her age. Then I kissed the brown hair of my oldest, hazel eyed and very human daughter.

When Jenna was born, Carlisle had tested her genes, searching for the extra pair of chromosomes that the La Push wolves had, but she didn't have it. That was why Alice and Jasper had left before Jenna had come into the room. I had decided that I didn't want her to know about our world. I wanted her to have her own life, to be able to make her own choices, without vampires and Rowan, and without even without Avalon. And that meant that Embry Call was to stay out of her life. If she chose him, that would be fine, but I wouldn't stand for him to sway her.

Jenevieve Sue Clearwater was a human in a house with three wolves, and destined to be with another.

I had to keep a close eye on Megan to keep her from telling her sister that the stories I'd told them when they were younger were real. Megan had badgered everyone for their side of the story all day, and I was glad it had finally ended. Those times were hard for me.

Gerry had saved me, but she hadn't saved Oliver. My twin and his clone, renamed Mordred, were still the property of Serine. They were her pets now, and when she had brought Oliver to the wedding today, I had nearly lost it. She made my Oliver act like normal, but it broke my heart to know that he was only talking to other people and hugging his nieces because his 'Mistress' had commanded it. Every time she had called his name, he had practically run to her, nearly falling at her feet before seemingly remembering that he was in public.

I wouldn't know though, I hadn't heard him in my mind since that last day, when he had apologized and told me how much he loved me. I would never really forgive myself for giving him to Serine. Luckily she hadn't brought Mordred, but I had a feeling that how ever she had left him was unpleasant based off the restraint marks on my brother's wrists. The girls hadn't noticed. Thank God.

The age gap between my girls was only three years, but it might as well have been ten. Jenna was mature for her age, always watching the world around her while Megan just wanted to live in a world of pink and stuffed animals.

It was times like this that I thought about just how alike they actually were. Under my arms with their heads on my chest, they were breathing softly, their eyes closing as they both fought sleep. They were my world. Their father's too.

"Lilly?" I hadn't heard Seth come in.

"In here." I said quietly, hoping that my girls didn't stir. They had had a long day. Jacob and Nessie had finally gotten married. I had spent most of the day with Jenna, keeping her from studying the Cullen's for too long, her her eyes had never strayed too far from Nessie though. The half vampire was the only Cullen I let near Jenna, and my daughter worshipped her. She wanted to be just like Nessie; pretty and smart.

Both of my girls loved their Uncle Jacob of course. Most of the Pack had stayed in La Push after all these years. My sister-in-law, Leah, had married Stone, and they now had a five year old son named Matthew as well as a brand new baby girl they had named Catori.

The Cullen's were leaving for good in a few days. They would probably only come around one more time to say goodbye to us before heading to Charlie's so Bella could say goodbye to her father. Bella and Seth were step siblings now, after Sue had finally harassed Charlie to make it official. It had been a quiet affair, just Seth, Bella, Edward, Nessie, Leah, and the girls and I...plus Billy and Jacob. Seth had been Charlie's best man, and Bella had been Sue's maid of honor.

Jacob and I had made our peace, and now I would actually be sad to see him go. But I understood better than most that his place was with Nessie. Besides, Seth could hold down the fort just fine, at least until Leah had recovered completely from having Tori.

I hoped Alice and Jasper would come around, but I knew that they would only do that as long as they could respect my wishes. Unfortunately, Megan wouldn't be in the nursery forever. I had never regretted my decision until now.

Seth came into the doorway, banishing my depressing train of thought, and I couldn't suppress the smile that grew on my face, "Hello, Love."

He chuckled, cupping my face in one of his large hands, "Hello, beautiful." He kissed me gently before looking down at the two girls in my arms. "Sorry I wasn't here for bedtime. Edward was being a pain. It took four of us to help keep him from ruining Nessie and Jacob's honeymoon."

I laughed softly, the image in my head more amusing than it should have been, "It's not a problem. Alice and Jasper were here telling Megan stories before Jenna came in to investigate. I swear, she spends far too much time with Charlie. She's going to start fingerprinting everyone soon." I said with a wry smile on my face.

He smiled, shaking his head, "What can we do? They adore each other. She is, after all, his only human grandchild."

"True." I admitted.

He stroked the side of my face again, "Today was rough. Are you okay?"

I nodded, "I'm fine, it was just hard to see Oliver again. I mean, I get like this every time she brings him around, but I know I can't really say anything. She did do what I asked her to do. And seeing Edward give Nessie away today didn't make it any easier." I kissed the top of Jenna's head again, "I don't even want to think about going through that with these two. They need to stay like this forever."

Seth laughed again, "Lilly, baby, they're going to grow up, sooner or later. All we can do is keep them safe and help them grow."

"I know." I said, cocking my head to the side, "Mind taking Jenna back to her own room?"

Seth shook his head, "Not at all." He gave me a quick kiss before scooping up our eldest and disappearing back into the hall.

I proceeded to tuck Megan into her own bed, putting her stuffed wolf under her arm. I kissed her on the forehead, whispering, "Sweet dreams little one." She sighed contently, wriggling in her bed until her head was under the covers as well, only her brown hair remaining exposed on the pillow. I shook my head with a smile, but left the room anyway, closing the open window, turning on the nightlight at the door with a soft click before I extinguished the ceiling light.

Seth was in our room already, and I could hear his favorite song playing from his new sound system. I would have gotten tired of the song if it wasn't his sweet way of trying to get me into bed. Shirtless, he was pulling off his jeans and singing along. "Gimme that girl with her hair in a mess, sleepy little smile with her head on my chest."

I watched without him noticing me, admiring his, although still wiry, muscular form dance around. When the song stopped, he turned around to look at me. He must have seen something in my eyes. "You alright baby?" He asked quietly.

I nodded, suppressing the nauseated felling that had just washed over me, followed by dizziness. "Yeah, your son is just acting up." I leaned my head against the wall, a hand on my still flat stomach. Seth had a self satisfied smirk on his face and drew me to him. "Stop that." I snapped, trying half heartedly to get him to let me go.

He had the horrible habit of getting really cocky when I was pregnant, some primal male instinct I guess, proving his manliness and virility to the rest of the pack. In my opinion, he could gloat _after_ he'd given birth to a baby, something I wasn't exactly looking forward to doing a third time. It wasn't easy:

I'd nearly died giving birth to Jenna, but being Rowan and having the very watchful Carlisle had saved me. He had taken care of Jenna, and Seth had given me the blood I'd needed to pull through. Megan had taken longer than Jenna, about twelve hours longer, possibly a precursor to her innate stubbornness, but had been far easier. They were worth it though.

Everything I'd never gone through was worth it. Being safe in La Push with my mate and Pack, knowing that my old home was safe in the hands of my reunited parents. Everything had turned out alright.

He laughed, sitting me on our bed and engulfing me in a hug. "I still can't believe it. A boy? Are you sure?" Great, I thought, now he's going to be even worse, prideful idiot. But he was my idiot.

I shrugged, "As sure as Alice is. She was disappointed. But I'll go to the doctor in a few months, and then we can know for positive."

"Sweet." He said, kissing my head. He had been acting really strange for most of the afternoon, but he seemed fine now. "I love you."

"I love you too." I said, kissing his shoulder. "You know what Meggie said when I finished telling her the story?"

"No, what could our little angel possibly have said?" Seth asked, falling back onto the bed and pulling me with him.

I turned to face him, taking one of his hands in mine. "That they all lived happily ever after."

He kissed me, his free hand cupping my face, "Happily ever after?" He whispered, his lips just inches from mine. "I think I can live with that."

"So can I." I kissed my mate once more, "And they all lived happily ever after."


End file.
